Top 5 clubs with the maximum Ballon d'Or wins

Since its initiation in 1956, the Ballon d’Or award has always been associated with excellence. It is awarded to the best player of the previous year by France Football. Even though the award was previously adjudged by journalists alone, since 2007, coaches and captains of national teams are also part of the voting process.

It has always been an honor to have a Ballon d’Or winner in a team. Few clubs in the world have been home to a Ballon d’Or winner, while even fewer have hosted more than 1. But who are the top 5 clubs in the world with the maximum number of Ballon d’Or wins? Read on to find out.

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5. Bayern Munich (5 wins)

Franz Beckenbauer

In 1966, for the first time in the history of the Ballon d’Or awards, a Bayern Munich player made it to the top 3. Franz Beckenbauer finished third with 59 points, behind Manchester United’s Bobby Charlton and Benfica’s Eusebio. It was the start of something special for the German club because, for the next few years, Bayern would feature heavily in the awards.

3 years later in 1969, it was Gerd Muller’s turn to finish third with 38 points, behind Gianni Rivera of AC Milan and Luigi Riva of Cagliari. In the following season, though, Bayern Munich would finally claim the top prize.

When the result of the 1970 Ballon d’Or was announced, it was an occasion to rejoice in Bavaria. Muller had accumulated 77 points and had beaten West Ham United’s Bobby Moore and Cagliari’s Riva to win the award.

2 years later in 1972, German sides dominated the Ballon d’Or award. Beckenbauer won the award with 81 points, while his club mate Muller and Borussia Monchengladbach’s Gunter Netzer finished joint second with 79 points.

Beckenbauer finished second for the next 2 years, before he won the award again in 1976, finishing with 91 points. After a 2 year absence, Bayern were back among the top 3 once again in 1979, with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who finished second with 52 points. Rummenigge then went on to win the award in the next 2 years, collecting 122 and 106 points respectively. Since then, though, Bayern Munich players have reached the top 3 on a few occasions, but the top prize has eluded them.

As of now, 3 Bayern Munich players have won the Ballon d’Or winners, 5 times in total. They are the club with the 5th most Ballon d’Or winning players.

3. AC Milan (8 wins)

Kaka (R)

When Gianna Rivera finished 2nd in the 1963 Ballon d’Or, it was the first time that an AC Milan player had made it into the top 3 of the awards. The Italian secured 53 points and finished behind the legendary Lev Yashin of Dynamo Moscow. 6 years later, Rivera won 83 points and became the first AC Milan player to win the coveted award. Sadly, for the next 18 years, Milan players were absent from the top 3 places.

In 1987, Ruud Gullit became the second player from the Serie A side to win the award, managing 91 points. His win was significant because it kick-started a run of absolute dominance from Milan. For the next 2 years, the players from the Serie A side secure all 3 places in the top 3, marking a golden era of the club. Legendary Dutchman Marco van Basten won 2 consecutive Ballon d’Or awards, finishing with 129 points on both occasions.

Van Basten won the award once again in 1992, this time gathering 98 points to beat Barcelona’s Hristo Stoichkov and Ajax’s Dennis Bergkamp. Paolo Maldini finished 3rd in 1994 before George Weah won the award in 1995 with 144 points.

After a couple of 3rd place finishes, Andriy Shevchenko finally brought the award back to Milan in 2004, before Kaka won the award in 2007. The Brazilian was the last Milan player to win the award.

As of now, AC Milan have been home to 6 Ballon d’Or winners, who have won the award for a total of 8 times.

3. Juventus (8 wins)

Pavel Nedved

A Juventus player first broke into the top 3 of the Ballon d’Or in 1959, when Welshman John Charles finished 3rd with 24 points. 2 years later, Omar Sivori won the Ballon d’Or with 46 points and became the first Juventus player to win the award. Paulo Rossi took the world by storm in 1982 and became the second Juventus player to win the Ballon d’Or. It began an era of dominance of the Old Lady and for the next 3 years Michel Platini won the award in a row and became a household name. It was the first time that a player had won the award for 3 consecutive years, a record that was broken almost 26 years later by Lionel Messi.

Juventus players managed just one appearance in the top 3 for the next 7 years, before Roberto Baggio put Juventus back on top, after winning the award in 1993 with 142 points. The Italian finished second the following year too. In 1997, a young Zinedine Zidane ensured that Juventus were back among the top 3, finishing 3rd with 63 points. The following year, the Frenchman won the award with 244 points, the highest points tally achieved at that time. Zidane also finished second in 2000.

The Old Lady had been among the top contributors to the Ballon d’Or award at the turn of the century and reinstated their position when Pavel Nedved won the award in 2003, picking up 190 points to finish ahead of Thierry Henry and Paolo Maldini. That would be the last time a Juventus player won the award.

6 players from the Serie A side have won the Ballon d’Or 8 times in total to date. Will a 7th player be added this year? Only time will tell.

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.

1. Real Madrid (11 wins)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid’s association with the Ballon d’Or award started quite early. The Spanish giants had 2 players in the top 3 in the very first rendition of the award in 1956, which was won by Englishman Stanley Matthews, who was playing for Blackpool at that time. Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano, who had finished second at that time, won the award in the following year, becoming the first Real Madrid and the first Spanish player to win the award. Real Madrid players won the award for the next couple of seasons, with Raymond Kopa finishing first in 1958 and Di Stefano winning his second the following year.

From then on though, Real Madrid could only break into the top 3 on 6 occasions for the next 40 years and never finished top. Therefore, when Luis Figo won the award in 2000 while playing for Los Blancos, it was a huge achievement. Brazilian sensation Ronaldo won the award in 2002 before Fabio Cannavaro lifted the top prize in 2006, all while playing for Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo, who had already won the Ballon d’Or with Manchester United in 2008, joined Real Madrid in 2009 but came second behind Messi for the next few years.

In 2013, the Portuguese reinstated Real Madrid’s status as one of the biggest clubs of the world by reclaiming the Ballon d’Or. He won 3 of the next 4 awards before another Real Madrid player, Luka Modric, won the award last year.

As of now, 7 Real Madrid players have won the Ballon d’Or, the most from any club and they have won it 11 times in total.