The Ballon d’Or is a football award which is presented annually by France Football, a weekly football magazine. The tradition of Ballon d’Or is being followed since 1956. The award was merged with FIFA Player of the Year in 2010, and was renamed as the FIFA Ballon d’Or. However, the agreement was over in 2016 and FIFA went on to make its own separate award known as The Best FIFA Football Awards.
The Ballon d’Or is awarded to the male football player who has made a remarkable display of talent and has the best overall performance in the previous year. The voting for the nomination of the award is done by football journalists.
FIFA Ballon'dor 2023
The FIFA Ballon'dor 2023 winner is Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi currently plays for Intern Miami. Erling Haaland came second this year, as a Manchester City striker won a treble last season. PSG's Mbappe finished third. The French star finished on the podium first time since winning the World cup in 2018.
FIFA Ballon d'Or 2022
The 2022 Ballon d'Or award function is set to undergo a change as the award's criteria of judging a player's personal and team achievements over a calendar year, will be changed to judging performances over the course of a typical club season. Therefore, the 2022 Ballon d'or will include the upcoming 2022 World Cup as well.
History
The Ballon d’Or award honours was initially only awarded to European players. However, since 1995 it expanded to include all the players of from any origin who played active role in the European clubs. In 2007, the award finally reached out to include all professional players around the world irrespective of their origin or league.
Interesting Facts
- Stanley Matthews of English club Blackpool, was the first player to be awarded the Ballon d’Or.
- George Weah was the first non-European and only African player to receive the award.
- Argentine Lionel Messi is the only player in the history of football who has won the award for a record seven times followed by the Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo who has won the award five times
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Ballon d'Or Winners Year by Year
| Year | Player | Nationality | Club |
| 2023 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Inter Miami |
| 2022 | Karim Benzema | France | Real Madrid |
| 2021 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | PSG |
| 2019 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| 2018 | Luka Modric | Croatian | Real Madrid |
| 2017 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 2016 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 2015 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| 2014 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 2013 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 2012 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| 2011 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| 2010 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| 2009 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| 2008 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Manchester United |
| 2007 | Kaká | Brazil | Milan |
| 2006 | Fabio Cannavaro | Italy | Real Madrid |
| 2005 | Ronaldinho | Brazil | Barcelona |
| 2004 | Andriy Shevchenko | Ukraine | Milan |
| 2003 | Pavel Nedvěd | Czech Republic | Juventus |
| 2002 | Ronaldo | Brazil | Real Madrid |
| 2001 | Michael Owen | England | Liverpool |
| 2000 | Luís Figo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 1999 | Rivaldo | Brazil | Barcelona |
| 1998 | Zinedine Zidane | France | Juventus |
| 1997 | Ronaldo | Brazil | Internazionale |
| 1996 | Matthias Sammer | Germany | Borussia Dortmund |
| 1995 | George Weah | Liberia | Milan |
| 1994 | Hristo Stoichkov | Bulgaria | Barcelona |
| 1993 | Roberto Baggio | Italy | Juventus |
| 1992 | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | Milan |
| 1991 | Jean-Pierre Papin | France | Marseille |
| 1990 | Lothar Matthäus | Germany | Internazionale |
| 1989 | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | Milan |
| 1988 | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | Milan |
| 1987 | Ruud Gullit | Netherlands | Milan |
| 1986 | Igor Belanov | Soviet Union | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 1985 | Michel Platini | France | Juventus |
| 1984 | Michel Platini | France | Juventus |
| 1983 | Michel Platini | France | Juventus |
| 1982 | Paolo Rossi | Italy | Juventus |
| 1981 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | West Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1980 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | West Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1979 | Kevin Keegan | England | Hamburg |
| 1978 | Kevin Keegan | England | Hamburg |
| 1977 | Allan Simonsen | Denmark | Borussia M”nchengladbach |
| 1976 | Franz Beckenbauer | West Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1975 | Oleg Blokhin | Soviet Union | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 1974 | Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | Barcelona |
| 1973 | Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | Barcelona |
| 1972 | Franz Beckenbauer | West Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1971 | Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | Ajax |
| 1970 | Gerd Müller | West Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1969 | Gianni Rivera | Italy | Milan |
| 1968 | George Best | Northern Ireland | Manchester United |
| 1967 | Flórián Albert | Hungary | Ferencvarosi TC |
| 1966 | Bobby Charlton | England | Manchester United |
| 1965 | Eusébio | Portugal | Benfica |
| 1964 | Denis Law | Scotland | Manchester United |
| 1963 | Lev Yashin | Soviet Union | Dynamo Moscow |
| 1962 | Josef Masopust | Czechoslovakia | Dukla Prague |
| 1961 | Omar Sívori | Italy | Juventus |
| 1960 | Luis Suárez | Spain | Barcelona |
| 1959 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | Spain | Real Madrid |
| 1958 | Raymond Kopa | France | Real Madrid |
| 1957 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | Spain | Real Madrid |
| 1956 | Stanley Matthews | England | Blackpool |
FAQs
A. The 2020 Ballon d'Or was cancelled as the European football season was cut short due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
A. Lionel Messi has won the most Ballon d'Or with 8 awards in Football history.
A. Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Ballon d'Or 5 times in 2013, 2014, 2016 & 2017.
A. Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or 2019 for the 7th time by the finest of margins.
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