Who Has Won the Most Ballon d’Or Awards? Full List of Winners

Lionel Messi has eight. Cristiano Ronaldo has five. Only three other men have more than two. Here is every Ballon d’Or winner from 1956 to 2025, the records nobody has broken, and what is at stake when the 70th award is handed out in London on 26 October 2026.

Updated: 18 October 2026

The Ballon d’Or, French for “Golden Ball”, is the most famous individual prize in football. Since 1956, the French magazine France Football has used it to name the best player of the year, and winning it can define how a career is remembered.

The short answer to the main question is simple: Lionel Messi has won the men’s Ballon d’Or a record eight times, three more than Cristiano Ronaldo. Behind them, only Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten have won it three times.

This guide first explains how the award works and how it has changed. It then looks at the players with the most wins, gives the complete list of winners year by year, and finishes with records by country, club and age, plus the women’s award.

What Is the Ballon d’Or and How Is the Winner Chosen?

The award was created by journalists Gabriel Hanot and Jacques Ferran. Stanley Matthews of Blackpool and England won the first edition in 1956. For almost 40 years it was a European award, open only to European players, which is why it was often called the European Footballer of the Year.

The rules opened up in stages. In 1995, any player at a European club became eligible, and George Weah of Liberia won that year. In 2007 the award became fully global. From 2010 to 2015 it merged with FIFA’s World Player of the Year to form the FIFA Ballon d’Or, before the two prizes separated again in 2016.

Today the winner is chosen by a jury of journalists, one from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA men’s ranking. Since 2022, voters judge a single season rather than a calendar year. They are asked to consider three criteria: individual performance, team results and trophies, and “class and fair play”. UEFA has co-organised the ceremony with France Football since 2024.

One year has no winner. In 2020, France Football cancelled the award because of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many observers believe Robert Lewandowski, who won the treble with Bayern Munich that season, would have been a worthy winner.

Most Ballon d’Or Wins: The All-Time Ranking

Rank	Player	Nation	Wins	Years
1	Lionel Messi	Argentina	8	2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	5	2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017
3=	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	3	1971, 1973, 1974
3=	Michel Platini	France	3	1983, 1984, 1985
3=	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	3	1988, 1989, 1992
6=	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Spain	2	1957, 1959
6=	Franz Beckenbauer	West Germany	2	1972, 1976
6=	Kevin Keegan	England	2	1978, 1979
6=	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	West Germany	2	1980, 1981
6=	Ronaldo	Brazil	2	1997, 2002

1. Lionel Messi: 8 Ballon d’Or Awards

Messi won his first Ballon d’Or in 2009 at Barcelona, after a season in which the club won the Champions League, La Liga and the Copa del Rey. He then won it in each of the next three years, 2010, 2011 and 2012, becoming the first player to win four in a row.

Further wins came in 2015 and 2019 with Barcelona. After moving to Paris Saint-Germain, he won again in 2021, the year he finally lifted a senior international trophy at the Copa América. His eighth arrived in 2023, after he captained Argentina to the 2022 World Cup and was named player of the tournament.

His records go beyond the total. Messi is the only player to win the award with three different clubs and the only one to win it while playing outside Europe, as his 2023 award came during his time at Inter Miami. He has also finished in the top three a record 14 times, including 11 years in a row from 2007 to 2017.

Remarkably, the story may not be finished. Messi, now 39, is on the 30-man shortlist for the 2026 award after winning the MLS Cup with Inter Miami and scoring eight goals at the 2026 World Cup, where Argentina reached the final. A ninth win would extend a record that already looks out of reach.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo: 5 Ballon d’Or Awards

Cristiano Ronaldo won his first Ballon d’Or in 2008 at Manchester United, after a season of 42 goals in all competitions that ended with the Premier League and the Champions League. He was the first Portuguese winner since Luís Figo in 2000.

His other four came at Real Madrid, in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. The last two followed Champions League wins, and 2016 also included Portugal’s first major trophy at Euro 2016. For more than a decade, Messi and Ronaldo won the award between them every year from 2008 to 2017.

Ronaldo holds a different record: he has the most nominations of any player, with 18. Together, Messi and Ronaldo have won 13 of the 17 awards presented from 2008 to 2025, an era of dominance the award had never seen before.

The Three-Time Winners: Cruyff, Platini and Van Basten

Johan Cruyff was the first player to win three. The Dutch forward won in 1971 with Ajax, then in 1973 and 1974 after joining Barcelona. He was the leading figure of “Total Football”, a system in which players constantly swapped positions.

Michel Platini of France was the first to win three in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, all with Juventus. In 1984 he also scored nine goals at the European Championship as France won the tournament, a record for a single Euros that still stands.

Marco van Basten won in 1988, 1989 and 1992, all at AC Milan. His first came after he scored five goals, including a famous volley in the final, as the Netherlands won Euro 1988. Injury forced him to stop playing at 28, which makes his three titles even more striking.

The Two-Time Winners

Five men have won the award twice. Alfredo Di Stéfano won in 1957 and 1959 with Real Madrid, Franz Beckenbauer in 1972 and 1976 with Bayern Munich, and Kevin Keegan in 1978 and 1979 with Hamburg. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge followed in 1980 and 1981, also at Bayern, while Brazil’s Ronaldo won in 1997 with Inter and 2002 with Real Madrid.

Full List of Ballon d’Or Winners (1956 to 2025)

The table shows every men’s winner, his nationality at the time and the club he played for when he won. The 2026 winner will be added after the ceremony on 26 October.

Year	Winner	Nationality	Club
1956	Stanley Matthews	England	Blackpool
1957	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Spain	Real Madrid
1958	Raymond Kopa	France	Real Madrid
1959	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Spain	Real Madrid
1960	Luis Suárez	Spain	Barcelona
1961	Omar Sívori	Italy	Juventus
1962	Josef Masopust	Czechoslovakia	Dukla Prague
1963	Lev Yashin	Soviet Union	Dynamo Moscow
1964	Denis Law	Scotland	Manchester United
1965	Eusébio	Portugal	Benfica
1966	Bobby Charlton	England	Manchester United
1967	Flórián Albert	Hungary	Ferencváros
1968	George Best	Northern Ireland	Manchester United
1969	Gianni Rivera	Italy	AC Milan
1970	Gerd Müller	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1971	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Ajax
1972	Franz Beckenbauer	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1973	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Barcelona
1974	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Barcelona
1975	Oleg Blokhin	Soviet Union	Dynamo Kyiv
1976	Franz Beckenbauer	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1977	Allan Simonsen	Denmark	Borussia Mönchengladbach
1978	Kevin Keegan	England	Hamburg
1979	Kevin Keegan	England	Hamburg
1980	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1981	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1982	Paolo Rossi	Italy	Juventus
1983	Michel Platini	France	Juventus
1984	Michel Platini	France	Juventus
1985	Michel Platini	France	Juventus
1986	Igor Belanov	Soviet Union	Dynamo Kyiv
1987	Ruud Gullit	Netherlands	AC Milan
1988	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	AC Milan
1989	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	AC Milan
1990	Lothar Matthäus	West Germany	Inter
1991	Jean-Pierre Papin	France	Marseille
1992	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	AC Milan
1993	Roberto Baggio	Italy	Juventus
1994	Hristo Stoichkov	Bulgaria	Barcelona
1995	George Weah	Liberia	AC Milan
1996	Matthias Sammer	Germany	Borussia Dortmund
1997	Ronaldo	Brazil	Inter
1998	Zinedine Zidane	France	Juventus
1999	Rivaldo	Brazil	Barcelona
2000	Luís Figo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2001	Michael Owen	England	Liverpool
2002	Ronaldo	Brazil	Real Madrid
2003	Pavel Nedvěd	Czech Republic	Juventus
2004	Andriy Shevchenko	Ukraine	AC Milan
2005	Ronaldinho	Brazil	Barcelona
2006	Fabio Cannavaro	Italy	Real Madrid
2007	Kaká	Brazil	AC Milan
2008	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Manchester United
2009	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2010	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2011	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2012	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2013	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2014	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2015	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2016	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2017	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2018	Luka Modrić	Croatia	Real Madrid
2019	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2020	Not awarded (COVID-19 pandemic)
2021	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Paris Saint-Germain
2022	Karim Benzema	France	Real Madrid
2023	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Inter Miami
2024	Rodri	Spain	Manchester City
2025	Ousmane Dembélé	France	Paris Saint-Germain

Ballon d’Or Records by Country and Club

France and Argentina share first place among nations with eight wins each, but in very different ways. Six French players have won the award: Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini (three times), Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane, Karim Benzema and Ousmane Dembélé. All eight of Argentina’s wins belong to Messi alone.

Nation	Wins	Different winners
France	8	6
Argentina	8	1
Germany / West Germany	7	5
Netherlands	7	3
Portugal	7	3
Italy	5	5
England	5	4
Brazil	5	4
Spain	4	3

At club level, Real Madrid and Barcelona are level with 12 winners each, which is why La Liga has produced more winners than any other league. Juventus and AC Milan follow with eight each. Since 1995, every winner has played in England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain or the United States.

Club	Wins
Real Madrid	12
Barcelona	12
Juventus	8
AC Milan	8
Bayern Munich	5
Manchester United	4
Paris Saint-Germain	2
Inter	2
Dynamo Kyiv	2
Hamburg	2

Other Ballon d’Or Records Worth Knowing

The oldest winner is still the first: Stanley Matthews was 41 years and 321 days old in 1956. The youngest is Brazil’s Ronaldo, who was 21 years and 96 days old when he won in 1997. Lamine Yamal, runner-up in 2025 at 18, is on course to challenge that record.

Only one goalkeeper has won it: Lev Yashin of the Soviet Union in 1963. Defenders are also rare, with Beckenbauer, Matthias Sammer and Fabio Cannavaro among the few. George Weah remains the only African winner, and he was also the first non-European to lift the trophy.

Other prizes are now presented on the same night. They include the Kopa Trophy for the best young player, the Yashin Trophy for goalkeepers and the Gerd Müller Trophy for the top scorer. In 2025, Lamine Yamal won his second Kopa Trophy, Gianluigi Donnarumma his second Yashin Trophy and Viktor Gyökeres the Gerd Müller Trophy.

Who Has Won the Most Women’s Ballon d’Or Awards?

The Ballon d’Or Féminin was introduced in 2018, and Norway’s Ada Hegerberg won the first edition. Megan Rapinoe of the United States followed in 2019, before Barcelona’s Spanish midfielders took control.

Aitana Bonmatí holds the record with three wins, in 2023, 2024 and 2025, making her the first woman to win three in a row. Her former teammate Alexia Putellas won in 2021 and 2022.

Who Will Win the 2026 Ballon d’Or?

The 70th edition will be presented at the London Palladium on 26 October 2026, the first time the ceremony has been held in England, in honour of first winner Stanley Matthews. Ousmane Dembélé, who won in 2025 after leading PSG to their first Champions League, is defending the title.

The race is unusually open. Harry Kane scored 73 goals for Bayern Munich and England in 2025/26, Kylian Mbappé won the World Cup Golden Boot and became the tournament’s all-time top scorer, and Lamine Yamal won the World Cup with Spain. Rodri, the 2024 winner, was named player of the World Cup, and Messi is chasing a ninth title at 39.

Whatever happens in London, the top of the all-time list will not change this year. Even a first win for Kane, Mbappé or Yamal would leave them seven behind Messi, a reminder of how extraordinary his record really is.