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All Ballon d’Or Winners Through History

The Ballon d’Or is an award given to the best football player in the world. The award was first presented in 1956 and has been awarded annually by French news magazine ‘France Football’ ever since. The only year it was not awarded was in 2020 due to COVID-19. The Ballon d’Or entered a partnership with FIFA in 2010 to call the award the FIFA Ballon d’Or.

This partnership continued till the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or award. However, from 2016 onwards, both organisations went their separate ways. The Ballon d’Or reverted to its original name, and FIFA started a new set of awards called The Best FIFA Men’s Player. This list features all the players who have won the Ballon d’Or since its inception in 1956 and talks about some players who have won this prestigious award the most number of times.

Past Ballon d’Or Winners:

Which Players Have The Most Ballon d’Or Awards?

5. Marco van Basten (3 Ballon d’Or Awards)

Marco van Basten retired at 31 having not played for two years due to injury:

◉ 3x Ballon d'Or
◉ 3x Serie A
◉ 3x Eredivisie
◉ 3x KNVB Cup
◉ 2x European Cup
◉ 2x Intercontinental Cup
◉ 2x Supercoppa
◉ 1x Super Cup
◉ 1x Cup Winners' Cup
◉ 1x Euros

437 games, 307 goals. pic.twitter.com/qlgGc9jIXW

— Squawka (@Squawka) January 29, 2024

Marco van Basten played senior football from 1981 to 1995. The Dutch striker has only ever played for two teams in his entire career. He played for Ajax from 1981 to 1987 and AC Milan from 1987 to 1995. However, all three of van Basten’s Ballon d’Or awards came when he was at AC Milan. The Dutchman won the award in 1988, 1989, and 1992. He beat out Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard in 1988, Franco Baresi and Frank Rijkaard in 1989, and Hristo Stoichkov and Dennis Bergkamp in 1992 to win his three Ballon d’Or awards.

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ALSO READ: FIFA World Cup Winners List

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4. Johan Cruyff (3 Ballon d’Or Awards)

Credit: FC Barcelona

Johan Cruyff won three Ballon d’Or awards in his career. He won the award in 1971, 1973, and 1974. In 1972, the UEFA Euro took place, and Germany managed to win the Euros. Therefore, the top three players for the 1972 Ballon d’Or award were all Germans. Cruyff nearly won the award in 1975 as well but ended up coming third after being beaten by Oleg Blokhin and Franz Beckenbauer. The Dutch star beat out Sandro Mazzola and George Best in 1971, Dino Zoff and Gerd Muller in 1973, and Franz Beckenbauer and Kazimierz Deyna in 1974 to win his three Ballon d’Or awards.

3. Michel Platini (3 Ballon d’Or Awards)

Happy 62nd birthday to Michel #Platini. First player in history to win 3 consecutive Ballon d'Or. 🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/Mg3LcpV88M

— SportExtraHd (@SportExtra_HD) June 21, 2017

Michel Platini won three Ballon d’Or awards in consecutive years. He became the first player ever to win this prestigious award three consecutive times. He won the Ballon d’Or in 1983, 1984, and 1985. Before winning it for the first time in 1983, Platini had already come third twice. He first came close to winning the award in 1977 but was beaten by Allan Simonsen and Kevin Keegan.

His next chance came in 1980, but he once again finished third behind Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Bernd Schuster. He finally managed to get his hands on the Ballon d’Or in 1983 and did not let go for three years. He beat out Kenny Dalglish and Allan Simonsen in 1983, Jean Tigana and Preben Elkjær Larsen in 1984, and Preben Elkjær and Bernd Schuster in 1985 to win his Ballon d’Or awards.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo (5 Ballon d’Or Awards)

Credit: Sky Sports

Cristiano Ronaldo is regarded as one of the greatest football players ever to live, and his trophy cabinet backs this statement. Aside from numerous league titles and Champions League titles won with different teams, Ronaldo has won the Ballon d’Or on five different occasions. The Portuguese won this prestigious award in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi showed unbelievable dominance, being the only two players to win this award for a decade, winning five Ballon d’Or awards each between 2008 and 2017. From 2007 to 2019, Ronaldo finished inside the top three ranked players in 12 years out of the possible 13. This goes to show just how good a player Cristiano Ronaldo was.

1. Lionel Messi (8 Ballon d’Or Awards)

From the little boy of Rosario to his eight Ballon d'Or. Messi is infinity.#ballondor pic.twitter.com/Ro42MjGUL1

— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) November 2, 2023

Like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi is another player regarded as one of the best ever to play the beautiful game. Messi has a record eight Ballon d’Or awards. No footballer ever has won the award as many times as he has. The Argentine won the award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2023. He is also the current holder of the Ballon d’Or award.

Messi won the award in 2023 despite being at Inter Miami at the time. This is due to his success with his national team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Qatar World Cup occurred in December 2022 and was therefore counted in the 2023 Ballon d’Or voting. This helped Lionel Messi get his eighth and latest Ballon d’Or.

For more news and updates on the Ballon d’Or, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram.

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