7 players who have won the Ballon d'Or consecutively

#5 Johan Cruyff (Netherlands, Ajax, and Barcelona)

Johann Cruyff

The man who revolutionized the beautiful game with his idea of total football was one of the greatest footballers in the history of the game. Johan Cruyff captured the imagination of a generation of budding footballers and mesmerized them with his ball control and dribbling skills.

The Dutchman started his career at Ajax, before rising through the ranks and soon becoming one of the hottest young players in the world. He won his first Ballon d’Or in 1971, securing 116 points to get the better of Inter Milan’s Sandro Mazzola and Manchester United’s George Best. 2 years later, he picked up his second Ballon d'Or after gathering 96 points. In the same year, he was picked by Barcelona for a then world-record fee.

At the Camp Nou, Cruyff won the Ballon d’Or for the third time and also became the first player to win the award consecutively. He secured 116 points once again, to beat stiff competition from Bayern Munich’s Franz Beckenbauer and Legia Warsaw’s Kazimierz Deyna. The Dutchman also created history by becoming the first footballer to win more than 2 Ballon d’Or awards.