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History of the Ballon d'Or: All the winners

The Ballon d'Or, awarded annually since 1956, stands as one of the most prestigious individual honours in world football.

Lionel Messi receives his eighth Ballon d'Or at the 2023 ceremony
Lionel Messi receives his eighth Ballon d'Or at the 2023 ceremony AFP via Getty Images

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

Ballon d’Or Féminin

2018 Ada Hegeberg 2019 Megan Rapinoe 2021 Alexia Putellas
2022 Alexia Putellas 2023 Aitana Bonmatí 2024 Aitana Bonmatí
Aitana Bonmatí is awarded the  Ballon d'Or Féminin in Paris
Aitana Bonmatí is awarded the Ballon d'Or Féminin in ParisGetty Images

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