Ballon d’Or award is the most restful, high profile and elite level award in football that is awarded to best player on individual basis annually. We have gathered the complete information regarding Ballon d’Or winners list of all times since it started. This is a dream award for any footballer and takes too much effort to win it. Let’s take a look on the history of this award which is quite complicated and much intense as well.
History of Ballon d’Or:
The elite football award started back in 1956 and it was known as “European Player of The Year Award” and the players who belong to only Europe were eligible to win it. After a long time, back in 2009 the officials changed it’s name and merged as “FIFA Players of the Year Award” which later became FIFA Ballon d’Or and any football player from any part of the world is eligible to win this.
| YEAR | WINNER | NATIONALITY | CLUB |
| 2017 | Cristiano Ronaldo (New) | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 2016 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 2015 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | FC Barcelona |
| 2014 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 2013 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 2012 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | FC Barcelona |
| 2011 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | FC Barcelona |
| 2010 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | FC Barcelona |
| 2009 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | FC Barcelona |
| 2008 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Manchester United |
| 2007 | Kaká | Brazil | AC Milan |
| 2006 | Fabio Cannavaro | Italy | Real Madrid/Juventus |
| 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 | Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1980 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1979 | Kevin Keegan | England | Hamburg |
| 1978 | Kevin Keegan | England | Hamburg |
| 1977 | Allan Simonsen | Denmark | Borussia M”nchengladbach |
| 1976 | Franz Beckenbauer | Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1975 | Oleg Blokhin | Soviet Union | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 1974 | Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | Barcelona |
| 1973 | Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | Barcelona |
| 1972 | Franz Beckenbauer | Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1971 | Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | Barcelona |
| 1970 | Gerd Müller | Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1969 | Gianni Rivera | Italy | Milan |
| 1968 | George Best | Northern Ireland | Manchester United |
| 1967 | Flórián Albert | Hungary | Ferencv rosi TC |
| 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 |
Here is the list of Ballon d’Or winners since 1956. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, both of these players have been winning Ballon d’Or since 2008 respectively. Rest of the winners are mentioned below in the table. By the beginning, only players from European Club were eligible, but from 1995 any football player with any nationality can win the award.
