Every awarded men’s Ballon d’Or edition from Stanley Matthews to Ousmane Dembélé, plus the records, repeat winners and rule changes behind the list.
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 Ballon d’or winner list.
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.
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 annual chronology, see the 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 | Hamburg |
| 1978 | Kevin Keegan | England | Hamburg |
| 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 |
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.
Ronaldo Nazário’s 1997 victory remains one of the defining entries in the record book because he became the benchmark among the youngest Ballon d’Or winners in history, winning the award at age 21.
What The Ballon d’Or Record Book Shows
Messi’s eight awards remain the men’s benchmark, while Ronaldo’s five place him alone in second.
The roll of honour reflects the award’s changing rules, from European-only beginnings to a global field.
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.
According to France Football’s award history and UEFA’s Ballon d’Or overview, the rules expanded in 1995 to allow non-European players representing European clubs. George Weah immediately made history as the first African winner. The eligibility framework was widened again in 2007 so players worldwide could be considered, turning the award into a genuinely global individual prize.
Why There Was No Ballon d’Or Winner In 2020
France Football announced that the 2020 Ballon d’Or would not be awarded, explaining that the COVID-19-disrupted season did not provide sufficiently fair conditions for judging players on an equal basis. It remains the only blank year in the men’s award history since the prize began in 1956.
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.
The List Changed Because The Award Changed
The full roll of honour is more than a ranking of famous names. It is also a record of who was eligible to compete, which leagues and competitions carried the most influence, and how football’s idea of individual greatness widened from a European prize into a global one.
That context matters when comparing eras. Matthews, Cruyff, Weah, Messi and Dembélé belong to the same archive, but they were judged inside different versions of the award. Reading the winners list with those rule changes in view makes the history richer and the comparisons fairer.
Ballon d’Or Winners List FAQ
Who has won the most Ballon d’Or awards?
Lionel Messi is the men’s record holder. His eight victories place him three awards clear of Cristiano Ronaldo, who is second on five.
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.
When did the Ballon d’Or become open to players worldwide?
The award first opened to non-European players at European clubs in 1995, then expanded globally in 2007 so eligible players no longer had to play for a European club.
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.