Ballon d’Or

Ballon d'Or

The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by France Football. Lionel Messi has won the award a record six times while playing for Barcelona. Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten have all won three times each.

About Ballon d’Or in brief

Summary Ballon d'OrThe Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by French news magazine France Football. It has been awarded since 1956, although between 2010 and 2015, an agreement was made with FIFA, and the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year. The partnership ended in 2016, and the award reverted to the Ballon D’Or. Lionel Messi has won the award a record six times while playing for Barcelona, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won five. Johan Cruyff of Ajax and Barcelona, Michel Platini of Juventus, and Marco van Basten of Milan have all won three times each.

With seven awards each, Dutch, German, and Portuguese players have won the most Ballons d’or. Barcelona and Real Madrid have supplied the most winners since 1995. In 2020, the L’Équipe Group, to which France Football belongs, decided that no award would be given for the year-19 due to the COVIDemic pandemic cutting short the seasons of football clubs worldwide. One-time winners are only included if they have also finished second or third in another year. An honorary award, the Super Ballon’Or, was awarded to Alfredo Di Stéfano in 1989.