List of Ballon d'Or Winners

The Ballon d'Or is given every year to the best football player based on their performance over the last year.

Here's the full list of Ballon d'Or winners over the years:

Interesting Facts:

• The first Ballon d'Or award was handed out in 1956.
• Lionel Messi holds the record with 8 Ballon d'Or titles. He won the award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023.
• Cristiano Ronaldo has the second most wins with 5 titles.
• Both Messi and Ronaldo have not made the list of nominees for the 2024 Ballon d'Or. This hasn't happened since 2013.
• Players from FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have won the most. Both teams have had 12 players winning the trophy.
• No Ballon d'Or award was handed out in 2020 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
• From 2010 to 2015, the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA Player of the Year award was merged into one award. It was at that time the called the FIFA Ballon d'Or. Since 2015 they are now once again separate awards.

More like this: Browse the Copa América winners list.