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The Ballon d'Or has been handed out every year since 1956, rewarding the player adjudged to have been the best performing player in the preceding year.
Given its standing as unarguably the most prestigious individual accolade in the game of football, it should come as no surprise that some of the greatest players in history had the privilege of winning the Ballon d'Or at least once in their career.
Football might very well be a team sport, but for success to be achieved, all the individual players in a team need to come together as a unit and perform their various roles to complement one another.
When it comes to football positions, there is arguably none more important than the midfielders, as it is through the middle of the park that the bulk of coaches' tactical demands are executed.
Midfielders in essence act as the engine room of football teams, linking defense with attack, in addition to making the game more attractive to watch.
While some truly legendary midfielders like Frank Lampard, Andres Iniesta, Andrea Pirlo, and Marco Tardelli never won the Ballon d'Or, numerous others did.
In this piece, in recognition of the overall contributions of midfielders to the game of football over the years, we shall be ranking the five greatest midfielders who won the Ballon d'Or.
Honorable mentions: Kaka, Bobby Charlton, Luka Modric, Luis Figo, Pavel Nedved
#5 Lothar Matthaus (1990)
In terms of strictly career longevity, Lothar Matthaus could well be classified as the greatest player in history, as his career at the very top of professional football lasted all of 21 years.
There are several longevity records that the German has, including being the player with the most World Cup matches (25), most capped German footballer (150), as well as the outfield player with the most appearances at different World Cups (five along with Rafa Marquez).
However, Matthaus was not just a footballer with a long career and he made an everlasting impact on the game of football.
Having started his professional career with Borussia Monchengladbach, he transferred to German giants Bayern Munich in 1984 and spent four successful years with the Bavarians before signing for Inter Milan in 1998.
Further success followed at the San Siro, with Matthaus winning three major honors in Italy before a return to Bayern Munich kickstarted what was to become the most successful period of his club career.
On the international scene, Lothar Matthaus was also extremely successful and was an integral part of the German sides that dominated football in the 1980s, culminating in the 1990 World Cup win in addition to their triumph at Euro exactly a decade earlier.
As captain of the World Cup-winning squad in Italy, Matthaus was hugely influential both on and off the field and weighed in with four goals.
He was an extremely versatile midfielder who functioned primarily as a box-to-box midfielder and incredibly played in four different decades from 1978 to 2000.
Lothar Matthaus was famed for his passing range and ability, tackling, vision, and shooting accuracy, while he was also proficient in the art of goalscoring, evidenced by the over 220 goals he scored in his professional career.
For his efforts in helping Germany to the 1990 World Cup, Lothar Matthaus was named the Ballon d'Or winner for the year, as well as winning the inaugural edition of the now-defunct FIFA World Player of the Year in 1991.
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#4 Ronaldinho (2005)
Ronaldinho was the inaugural player to achieve mainstream prominence in the social media era and was the first person in the world to cross the one million views mark on the video-sharing site YouTube in 2004.
Having had his breakthrough with PSG, Ronaldinho was signed by Barcelona in the summer of 2003 and he helped lay the foundation for what has become the most successful era in the club's history.
Before he arrived at Camp Nou, Barcelona were in a mess and had not won a major trophy for six years, but his signing helped put the Blaugrana on the global map once again.
During his time with the Catalans, Ronaldinho was unarguably the best player in the world and helped his side to consecutive league titles, as well as the Champions League in 2006.
While he might not have had the most exemplary record in terms of discipline and training regime, when it comes to natural talent and pure footballing ability, only a handful through history can claim to be as gifted as the Brazilian.
Ronaldinho was a pristine freekick taker, while he also perfected the rabona and flip-flop dribbling technique.
His happy-go attitude and ever-smiling nature made him a universally loved figure and he is one of only three Barcelona players to have received a standing ovation from Real Madrid fans at the Bernabeu, with the other two being Andres Iniesta and Diego Maradona.
In what was a highly distinguished playing career, Ronaldinho represented some of the biggest clubs in the world and won a host of trophies on the club scene, while also winning the World Cup and Copa America with Brazil.
In 2005, Ronaldinho became only the fourth Brazilian to be named the Ballon d'Or winner and added a third-place finish a year later.
#3 Zinedine Zidane (1998)
Zinedine Zidane is widely regarded as the best midfielder of his generation and one of the best players in history and you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who disputes this.
He represented Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus, and Real Madrid in his legendary career and it was with the Bianconerri that Zidane established himself as a world-class player, displaying his talents at a time that the Serie A was at its strongest and helping the Turin giants to six major trophies.
His displays In Italy prompted a world-record transfer to Real Madrid in 2001 and he immediately made an impact, helping the club win the Champions League in their centenary year, with his tournament clinching goal against Bayer Leverkusen going down as one of the most legendary in history.
There was also success on their international scene with France, with the World Cup and Euro added to his glittering collection at club level.
It was on the global stage on home soil that the man fondly called 'Zizou' cemented his legacy and despite having not scored a goal as France made it to the final against overwhelming favorites Brazil, Zidane put the South Americans to the sword with a brace at the Stade de France to help Les Bleus to their maiden World Cup.
He was named man of the match in the final, becoming an instant national icon in the process and made up for his runners-up finish the year earlier with his only Ballon d'Or win in addition to the FIFA World Best Player in 1998.
He was not the most illustrious of goalscorers (he scored just over 150 goals in his career), but what he lacked in goalscoring ability, Zidane made up with his brilliant technique, control, and vision on the pitch.
Though his career ended in ignominy with that infamous headbutt on Marco Materazzi in 2006, it takes nothing away from the fact that Zinedine Zidane was one of the greatest to ever grace a football field.
#2 Michel Platini (1983,1984,1985)
A decade before Zinedine Zidane made waves at Juventus, his compatriot had starred for the Bianconerri and took the club to new heights during his stay in Italy.
Michel Platini was an attacking midfielder of extreme proportions during his heyday and with him in the team, Juventus conquered all and sundry and were undoubtedly the best club in the world.
Having boosted his stock in his native France with Nancy and St-Ettiene, Platini transferred to Turin in 1982 and went on to achieve god-like status with the Italian giants, winning numerous titles with the club, including the Serie A, European Cup, Coppa Italia, and European Cup Winners Cup.
Despite playing as a midfielder, Platini was incredibly adept in the art of goalscoring and finished as the top scorer in the Italian Serie A in three consecutive seasons which is no mean feat, considering that some legendary players like Paolo Rossi, Zico, Diego Maradona, and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge all plied their trade in Italy at this point.
On the international scene, Platini also captained his nation to glory at the European Championship on home soil in 1984 and followed that up with a third-place finish at the World Cup two years later.
For his efforts with Juventus and France, Platini became the first player to win the Ballon d'Or in three consecutive years and this would have been an everlasting record before a certain Lionel Messi came around.
Though his career lasted for just 15 years, retiring at the age of 32, Michel Platini made enough of an impact to be considered among the greatest of all time.
He ventured into football administration upon retirement and was appointed president of UEFA, but had his reputation tarnished when he was indicted in the corruption charges that rocked FIFA in 2015.
#1 Johan Cruyff (1971, 1973, 1974)
In the history of football, it can be argued that no single man has had as much of an impact on the evolution of the game as Johan Cruyff.
He was the quintessential exponent of the 'total football' philosophy espoused by Rinus Michels - a tactical variation that saw players function in a variety of outfield positions - to cover for teammates when they overlap or get caught out of position.
This was a revolutionary philosophy that went against the more static systems in the day and is still being implemented to this day.
On the field of play, Johan Cruyff was an unplayable monster, combining excellent positioning and goalscoring abilities with brilliant dribbling and passing technique.
He introduced the 'Cruyff turn' to the lexicon of football, while he also left an indelible mark on the histories of two legendary clubs in Barcelona and Ajax.
Johan Cruyff was in many ways an iconoclast who refused to stick to stick to established conventions and regularly had fallouts with football authorities when he felt his rights or those of his teammates were being trampled upon.
In a major deviation from the norm of the time, he was the first high-profile starter to shift away from the practice of using jersey numbers from 1-11, instead choosing the number 14 and this is the number that is forever associated with him.
He helped Ajax to the most successful period in their history, leading the club to three successive European Cup victories as well as numerous other domestic titles. There were also successful spells with Barcelona and Feyenoord.
Upon retirement, he ventured into football management and arguably had more success on the bench than on the field, first with Ajax and then with Barcelona.
At Camp Nou, under his management, the famed 'dream team' won the club's first European Cup, four consecutive league titles, in addition to numerous other major trophies.
His biggest legacy at Barcelona, however, came in his successful implementation of the Ajax training academy (which he also introduced) at Camp Nou. Called La Masia, the academy has gone on to produce some of the best players in Barcelona's history including Lionel Messi, Pep Guardiola, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol among others.
Cruyff was named the Ballon d'Or winner on three occasions and his coaching methods went on to influence future coaching greats like Pep Guardiola, Louis Van Gaal, Luis Enrique, and a host of others.
Sadly, the Dutch icon passed on in March 2016, losing his battle with Lung cancer but his legacy would forever live on.
