The Golden Ball Archive
Ballon d’Or Winners List: Every Men’s Winner From 1956 to 2025
The Ballon d’Or winners list runs from Stanley Matthews in 1956 to Ousmane Dembélé in 2025. Lionel Messi holds the men’s record with eight awards, Cristiano Ronaldo is second with five, and the prize has evolved from a European-only honour into one of world football’s defining individual awards. This archive gives you every men’s winner, plus the records and turning points behind the list.
Quick answer: Lionel Messi has won the most men’s Ballon d’Or awards with eight. Cristiano Ronaldo follows with five. Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten each won three. No award was presented in 2020.
The Roll of Honour
Complete Ballon d’Or Winners List From 1956 to 2025
The table below is TMJ’s master list of men’s Ballon d’Or winners. For a stripped-back chronological reference focused specifically on annual lookup, see our Ballon d’Or winners by year archive.
Table methodology: The club shown is the club associated with each winner in the official award record, rather than every club the player represented during that calendar year.
| Year | Winner | Nationality | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Ousmane Dembélé | France | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 2024 | Rodri | Spain | Manchester City |
| 2023 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Inter Miami |
| 2022 | Karim Benzema | France | Real Madrid |
| 2021 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 2020 | Not awarded | ||
| 2019 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| 2018 | Luka Modrić | Croatia | 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 | AC Milan |
| 2006 | Fabio Cannavaro | Italy | Real Madrid |
| 2005 | Ronaldinho | Brazil | Barcelona |
| 2004 | Andriy Shevchenko | Ukraine | AC 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 | Inter Milan |
| 1996 | Matthias Sammer | Germany | Borussia Dortmund |
| 1995 | George Weah | Liberia | AC Milan |
| 1994 | Hristo Stoichkov | Bulgaria | Barcelona |
| 1993 | Roberto Baggio | Italy | Juventus |
| 1992 | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | AC Milan |
| 1991 | Jean-Pierre Papin | France | Marseille |
| 1990 | Lothar Matthäus | Germany | Inter Milan |
| 1989 | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | AC Milan |
| 1988 | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | AC Milan |
| 1987 | Ruud Gullit | Netherlands | AC 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 | Hamburger SV |
| 1978 | Kevin Keegan | England | Hamburger SV |
| 1977 | Allan Simonsen | Denmark | Borussia Mönchengladbach |
| 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 | AC Milan |
| 1968 | George Best | Northern Ireland | Manchester United |
| 1967 | Flórián Albert | Hungary | Ferencváros |
| 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 |
The Record Holders
Who Has Won the Most Ballon d’Or Awards?
Lionel Messi is the record holder with eight men’s Ballon d’Or victories. Cristiano Ronaldo is second with five. Their combined dominance transformed the modern history of the award, but the list of multiple winners reaches much further back.
Reading the Records
What the Ballon d’Or Record Book Shows
Individual dominance
Lionel Messi’s eight awards are the men’s record, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s five place him alone in second. No other player has won more than three.
A changing global map
The roll of honour reflects the award’s changing eligibility rules. Its early decades were European-only, before the field widened in 1995 and later became global.
From Europe to the World
How the Ballon d’Or Changed
France Football created the Ballon d’Or in 1956. Stanley Matthews became its first winner. For decades, eligibility was restricted to European players, which means the historical winners list cannot be treated as a simple ranking of every great footballer who played during that period.
The rules expanded in 1995 to allow non-European players representing European clubs. George Weah immediately made history as the first African winner. Eligibility later became global, allowing the award to reflect a much broader football landscape.
Why there was no Ballon d’Or winner in 2020
France Football cancelled the 2020 award because the COVID-19 pandemic created what the publication considered insufficiently fair conditions for judging the season. It remains the only blank year in the award’s history since 1956.
Beyond the Table
The Defining Eras of the Ballon d’Or Winners List
The European foundations
Matthews, Di Stéfano, Cruyff, Beckenbauer and other European greats established the award’s prestige during an era of restricted eligibility.
Dynasties and triple winners
Michel Platini won three consecutively before Marco van Basten joined him and Cruyff as a three-time winner.
The global expansion
Weah, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaká helped turn the winners list into a more international reflection of elite football.
The Messi-Ronaldo age
Messi and Ronaldo won 13 Ballon d’Or awards between them, producing the longest period of two-player dominance in the prize’s history.
A winners list tells you who received the trophy. The deeper history explains why the list changed, who could compete for it, and how different generations came to define individual greatness.
Ballon d’Or Winners List: Frequently Asked Questions
Who has won the most Ballon d’Or awards?
Lionel Messi holds the men’s record with eight Ballon d’Or wins, earned in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023.
Who was the first Ballon d’Or winner?
Stanley Matthews of Blackpool and England won the inaugural Ballon d’Or in 1956.
Who won the Ballon d’Or in 2025?
Ousmane Dembélé won the men’s Ballon d’Or in 2025 after a standout season with Paris Saint-Germain.
Why was there no Ballon d’Or in 2020?
France Football did not award the prize in 2020 because of the disruption and uneven competitive conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Has a goalkeeper ever won the Ballon d’Or?
Yes. Lev Yashin won in 1963 and remains the only goalkeeper to have won the men’s Ballon d’Or.