Top 5 clubs with the maximum Ballon d'Or wins

2. Barcelona (11 wins)

Lionel Messi (C)

The La Liga side have always been home to some legendary players. A Barcelona player won the Ballon d’Or for the first time in 1960 when Luis Suarez won the award with 54 points. It was also the first time that a player from the Spanish giants had featured among the top 3. A decade and a half later, Johan Cruyff propelled Barcelona back to the top, by winning the 1974 Ballon d’Or with 116 points. The legendary Dutchman also finished 3rd in the following season.

For the next few years, a Barcelona player managed to break into the top 3 once in a while, but could not secure top spot. Almost 19 years later, Hristo Stoichkov, while playing for Barcelona, won the top prize in 1993, securing 210 points in the process. Rivaldo then added to Barcelona’s tally, winning the Ballon d’Or in 1999. Fellow Brazilian Ronaldinho won the coveted prize in 2005, before the start of an astonishing era 2 years later.

When young Lionel Messi finished 3rd in 2007, few people expected him to achieve the impossible. The following year, Messi finished second and from 2009, his reign started. The Argentinean won the Ballon d’Or for the next four years in a row, in an unprecedented show of dominance. Messi won his 5th award in 2015.

Right now, 6 Barcelona players have won the Ballon d’Or for a total of 11 times, which makes the La Liga side the club with the second most Ballon d’Or winners in world football right now.