Ballon d'Or winners: Who won the most? Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and others

Kyle Bonn

Ballon d'Or winners: Who won the most? Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and others image

The Ballon d'Or award is considered the most prestigious individual award in football, synonymous with the title of best player in the world.

The list of previous winners is a veritable honor roll of superstars past and present. Winning a Ballon d'Or trophy is considered the apex of individual success over the course of any footballer's career.

But to win multiple editions of the iconic Golden Ball is the stuff of legends. In fact, there are only 10 players who have ever done it and their names are ones any football fan would recognize.

The Sporting News looks back at these previous honorees — and it's clear how high the bar is for what players must achieve to get their hands on the Ballon d'Or. It is an exclusive club.

MORE: Ballon d'Or vs FIFA's The Best awards: Explaining the differences, history, and which one is bigger

Who has won the most Ballon d'Or awards?

The player with the most Ballon d'Or awards of all-time is Lionel Messi who has won it eight times. Behind him is Messi's long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo with five Ballons d'Or.

Only 10 players all-time have claimed multiple Ballon d'Or awards. There have been 34 other players who have claimed the Ballon d'Or once in their career.

RankPlayerBallon d'Or
wins
Years won
1.Lionel Messi82009, 2010, 2011, 2012,
2015, 2019, 2021, 2023
2.Cristiano Ronaldo52008, 2013, 2014, 2016,
2017
3.Michel Platini31983, 1984, 1985
 Johan Cruyff31971, 1973, 1974
 Marco van Basten31988, 1989, 1992
6.Franz Beckenbauer21972, 1976
 Ronaldo21997, 2002
 Alfredo Di Stefano21957, 1959
 Kevin Keegan21978, 1979
 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge21980, 1981
Lionel Messi Ballon d'Or

MORE: Who were the 2022 Ballon d'Or nominees? All the finalists

Men's Ballon d'Or winners

The first Ballon d'Or was awarded in 1956 to Blackpool legend Stanley Matthews, one of the greats of the English game.

Dutch giant Johan Cruyff became the first player to win it three times in the 1970s. French star Michel Platini won it three times in a row — the first to achieve that feat — in the 80's.

Messi won the 2021 Ballon d'Or, beating out Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho by a narrow margin for his seventh trophy. He finished ahead of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe two years later.

Messi and Ronaldo have won 13 of the last 14 Ballon d'Or awards, with only Luka Modric capable of stopping that run in 2018. Those were the only three active players to have won a Ballon d'Or before being joined by Karim Benzema in 2022.

YearPlayerClub
1956Stanley MatthewsBlackpool
1957Alfredo Di StefanoReal Madrid
1958Raymond KopaReal Madrid
1959Alfredo Di StefanoReal Madrid
1960Luis SuarezBarcelona
1961Omar SivoriJuventus
1962Josef MasopustDukla Prague
1963Lev YashinDynamo Moscow
1964Denis LawManchester United
1965EusebioBenfica
1966Bobby CharltonManchester United
1967Florian AlbertFerencvaros
1968George BestManchester United
1969Gianni RiveraAC Milan
1970Gerd MullerBayern Munich
1971Johann CruyffAjax
1972Franz BeckenbauerBayern Munich
1973Johann CruyffBarcelona
1974Johann CruyffBarcelona
1975Oleg BlokhinDynamo Kyiv
1976Franz BeckenbauerBayern Munich
1977Allan SimonsenGladbach
1978Kevin KeeganHamburg
1979Kevin KeeganHamburg
1980Karl-Heinz RummeniggeBayern Munich
1981Karl-Heinz RummeniggeBayern Munich
1982Paolo RossiJuventus
1983Michel PlatiniJuventus
1984Michel PlatiniJuventus
1985Michel PlatiniJuventus
1986Igor BelanovDynamo Kyiv
1987Ruud GullitAC Milan
1988Marco van BastenAC Milan
1989Marco van BastenAC Milan
1990Lothar MatthausInter Milan
1991Jean-Pierre PapinMarseille
1992Marco van BastenAC Milan
1993Roberto BaggioJuventus
1994Hristo StoichkovBarcelona
1995George WeahAC Milan
1996Mathias SammerBorussia Dortmund
1997RonaldoInter Milan
1998Zinedine ZidaneJuventus
1999RivaldoBarcelona
2000Luis FigoReal Madrid
2001Michael OwenLiverpool
2002RonaldoReal Madrid
2003Pavel NedvedJuventus
2004Andriy ShevchenkoAC Milan
2005RonaldinhoBarcelona
2006Fabio CannavaroReal Madrid
2007KakaAC Milan
2008Cristiano RonaldoManchester United
2009Lionel MessiBarcelona
2010Lionel MessiBarcelona
2011Lionel MessiBarcelona
2012Lionel MessiBarcelona
2013Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid
2014Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid
2015Lionel MessiBarcelona
2016Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid
2017Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid
2018Luka ModricReal Madrid
2019Lionel MessiBarcelona
2020
2021Lionel MessiPSG
2022Karim BenzemaReal Madrid
2023Lionel MessiPSG/Inter Miami

The women's Ballon d'Or has been awarded since 2018 with the 2020 event cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ballon d'Or Feminin

YearPlayerClub
2018Ada HegerbergLyon
2019Megan RapinoeOL Reign
2020
2021Alexia PutellasBarcelona
2022Alexia PutellasBarcelona
2023Aitana BonmatiBarcelona

What is the Ballon d'Or?

The Ballon d'Or, which translates from French to "Golden Ball", is the most prestigious individual award in world football, honoring the best men's and women's player across the globe for that season.

The award was started by French publication France Football in 1956, and has been awarded every season since, except for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ballon d'Or was absorbed by FIFA in 2010 as part of a six-year partnership that ran through 2015. At that time it reverted back to France Football's sole ownership, with FIFA launching its own end-of-season player honors, The Best FIFA Football Awards. UEFA entered a new partnership with the French publication for the award from 2024.

The Ballon d'Or had historically recognized player performance over the course of a calendar year, but that has recently changed to align more closely with the European club season calendar.

It means that, as Messi sought his eighth win, the 36-year-old's performances that helped Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain to respective World Cup and Ligue 1 glory will have been taken into account but not his goal-laden start to life at Inter Miami.

Kyle Bonn

Kyle Bonn Photo

Kyle Bonn, is a Syracuse University broadcast journalism graduate with over a decade of experience covering soccer globally. Kyle specializes in soccer tactics and betting, with a degree in data analytics. Kyle also does TV broadcasts for Wake Forest soccer, and has had previous stops with NBC Soccer and IMG College. When not covering the game, he has long enjoyed loyalty to the New York Giants, Yankees, and Fulham. Kyle enjoys playing racquetball and video games when not watching or covering sports.