This coveted accolade, brought to life by France Football magazine, has been won by some of the greatest footballers in history.
Since Sir Stanley Matthews took the first award almost 70 years ago, the Ballon d'Or has become a testament to the extraordinary skill, dedication, and impact of the game's legends and their mark on the game. Since 2018, the Ballon d'Or Féminin has also recognised the achievements of the best players in women's football.
Let's take a journey through time and look at a list of all the Ballon d'Or winners since its conception.
1956
Stanley Matthews
1957 and 1959
Alfredo Di Stéfano
1958
Raymond Kopa
1960
Luis Suárez
1961
Omar Sivori
1962
Josef Masopust
1963
Lev Yashin
1964
Denis Law
1965
Eusébio
1966
Bobby Charlton
1967
Flórián Albert
1968
George Best
1969
Gianni Rivera
1970
Gerd Müller
1971
Johan Cruyff
1972
Franz Beckenbauer
1973, 1974
Johan Cruyff
1975
Oleh Blokhin
1976
Franz Beckenbauer
1977
Allan Simonsen
1978, 1979
Kevin Keegan
1980, 1981
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
1982
Paolo Rossi
1983, 1984, 1985
Michel Platini
1986
Ihor Belanov
1987
Ruud Gullit
1988, 1989
Marco van Basten
1990
Lothar Matthäus
1991
Jean-Pierre Papin
1992
Marco van Basten
1993
Roberto Baggio
1994
Hristo Stoichkov
1995
George Weah
1996
Matthias Sammer
1997
Ronaldo
1998
Zinédine Zidane
1999
Rivaldo
2000
Luís Figo
2001
Michael Owen
2002
Ronaldo
2003
Pavel Nedvěd
2004
Andriy Shevchenko
2005
Ronaldinho
2006
Fabio Cannavaro
2007
Kaká
2008
Cristiano Ronaldo
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Lionel Messi
2013, 2014
Cristiano Ronaldo
2015
Lionel Messi
2016, 2017
Cristiano Ronaldo
2018
Luka Modrić
2019
Lionel Messi
2020
Cancelled
2021
Lionel Messi
2022
Karim Benzema
2023
Lionel Messi
2024
Rodri
2025
Ousmane Dembélé
Ballon d’Or Féminin
2018
Ada Hegeberg
2019
Megan Rapinoe
2021, 2022
Alexia Putellas
2023, 2024, 2025
Aitana Bonmatí
