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European Player Of The Year Award

The Ballon d’Or is an award given each season to the player who has been voted the best playing in Europe that year. It is also known as the European Footballer of the Year Award. The trophy is presented annually by the Paris based magazine, France Football.

Journalists at the magazine create a thirty strong shortlist of players who have performed exceptionally in that calendar year. This is then given to journalists from around the world who each pick a top five. These five are then awarded points based in their position in that journalist’s list, with the winner the player with the most points.

The man behind the Ballon d’Or’s creation was French Journalist Gabriel Hanot. Hanot, a former international for France, also played a large part in bringing professionalism to French Football in the formation of Ligue 1 in 1932. In addition, Hanot played a pivotal role in establishing the European Cup, which would later become the Champions League.

The inaugural trophy was won by England and Blackpool outside right, Stanley Matthews. At the time Matthews was 41 and edged out legendary Real Madrid duo Alfredo Di Stéfano and Raymond Kopa into second and third place.

In 2010, the Ballon d’Or was merged with the FIFA World Player of the year, though this collaboration came to an end after just six years. UEFA also produced their own award with the UEFA Men’s player of the Year in 2011 with FIFA creating the Best FIFA Men’s Player award from 2016. Despite this, the Ballon d’Or remains the most prestigious personal accolade in football.

List of Ballon d’Or Winners: 1956 – 2022

Year Player Club Position Nationality
2022 Karim Benzema Real Madrid Forward French
2021 Lionel Messi Paris Saint-Germain Forward Argentinian
2020 Cancelled – – –
2019 Lionel Messi Barcelona Forward Argentinian
2018 Luka Modrić Real Madrid Midfielder Croatian
2017 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid Forward Portuguese
2016 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid Forward Portuguese
2015 Lionel Messi Barcelona Forward Argetinian
2014 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid Forward Portuguese
2013 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid Forward Portuguese
2012 Lionel Messi Barcelona Forward Argentinian
2011 Lionel Messi Barcelona Forward Argentinian
2010 Lionel Messi Barcelona Forward Argentinian
2009 Lionel Messi Barcelona Forward Argentinian
2008 Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United Forward Portuguese
2007 Kaká AC Milan Midfielder Brazilian
2006 Fabio Cannavaro Real Madrid Defender Italian
2005 Ronaldinho Barcelona Midfielder Brazilian
2004 Andriy Shevchenko AC Milan Forward Ukrainian
2003 Pavel Nedvěd Juventus Midfielder Czech
2002 Ronaldo Real Madrid Forward Brazilian
2001 Michael Owen Liverpool Forward English
2000 Luís Figo Real Madrid Midfielder Portuguese
1999 Rivaldo Barcelona Forward Brazilian
1998 Zinedine Zidane Juventus Midfielder French
1997 Ronaldo Inter Milan Forward Brazilian
1996 Matthias Sammer Borussia Dortmund Defender German
1995 George Weah AC Milan Forward Liberian
1994 Hristo Stoitchkov Barcelona Forward Bulgarian
1993 Roberto Baggio Juventus Forward Italian
1992 Marco van Basten AC Milan Forward Dutch
1991 Jean-Pierre Papin Marseille Forward French
1990 Lothar Matthaus Inter Milan Midfielder German
1989 Marco van Basten AC Milan Forward Dutch
1988 Marco van Basten AC Milan Forward Dutch
1987 Ruud Gullit AC Milan Midfielder Dutch
1986 Igor Belanov Dynamo Kyiv Forward Ukrainian
1985 Michael Platini Juventus Midfielder French
1984 Michael Platini Juventus Midfielder French
1983 Michael Platini Juventus Midfielder French
1982 Paolo Rossi Juventus Forward Italian
1981 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Bayern Munich Forward German
1980 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Bayern Munich Forward German
1979 Kevin Keegan Hamburger SV Forward English
1978 Kevin Keegan Hamburger SV Forward English
1977 Allan Simonsen Borussia Mönchengladbach Forward Danish
1976 Franz Beckenbauer Bayern Munich Defender German
1975 Oleg Blokhin Dynamo Kyiv Forward Ukrainian
1974 Johan Cruyff Barcelona Forward Dutch
1973 Johan Cruyff Barcelona Forward Dutch
1972 Franz Beckenbauer Bayern Munich Defender German
1971 Johan Cruyff Ajax Forward Dutch
1970 Gerd Müller Bayern Munich Forward German
1969 Gianni Rivera AC Milan Midfielder Italian
1968 George Best Manchester United Midfielder Northern Irish
1967 Flórián Albert Ferencváros Forward Bulgarian
1966 Bobby Charlton Manchester United Midfielder English
1965 Eusébio Benfica Forward Portuguese
1964 Denis Law Manchester United Forward Scottish
1963 Lev Yashin Dynamo Moscow Goalkeeper Russian
1962 Josef Masopust Dukla Prague Midfielder Czech
1961 Omar Sívori Juventus Forward Italian
1960 Luis Suárez Barcelona Midfielder Spanish
1959 Alfredo Di Stéfano Real Madrid Forward Spanish
1958 Raymond Kopa Real Madrid Midfielder French
1957 Alfredo Di Stéfano Real Madrid Forward Spanish
1956 Stanley Matthews Blackpool Forward English

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