The Ballon D’or award is each year received to the best player of the year. Every player’s dream is to one day win the Ballon d’Or, but very few get the chance to do that.

It’s one of the most prestigious awards in the world, across all sports, so it’s always interesting to look at the past winners. Below is a breakdown of all the Ballon d’Or winners, from the first award in 1956 to the most recent one.

Before going through each year’s winner, here are the players with the most Ballon d’Or awards.

Here are all the Ballon d’Or winners, from the start in 1956 to the most recent one.

Year Player Club
2021 Lionel Messi Paris Saint Germain FC
2020 Not awarded
2019 Lionel Messi FC Barcelona
2018 Luka Modric Real Madrid
2017 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid
2016 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid
2015 Lionel Messi FC Barcelona
2014 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid
2013 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid
2012 Lionel Messi FC Barcelona
2011 Lionel Messi FC Barcelona
2010 Lionel Messi FC Barcelona
2009 Lionel Messi FC Barcelona
2008 Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United
2007 Kaká  AC Milan
2006 Fabio Cannavaro Real Madrid
2005 Ronaldinho FC Barcelona
2004 Andriy Shevchenko AC Milan
2003 Pavel Nedvěd Juventus FC
2002 Ronaldo (R9) Real Madrid
2001 Michael Owen Liverpool FC
2000 Luís Figo Real Madrid
1999 Rivaldo FC Barcelona
1998 Zinedine Zidane Juventus FC
1997 Ronaldo (R9) Inter Milan
1996 Matthias Sammer Borussia Dortmund
1995 George Weah AC Milan
1994 Hristo Stoichkov FC Barcelona
1993 Roberto Baggio  Juventus FC
1992 Marco van Basten AC Milan
1991 Jean-Pierre Papin Olympique Marseille
1990 Lothar Matthäus Inter Milan
1989 Marco van Basten AC Milan
1988 Marco van Basten AC Milan
1987 Ruud Gullit AC Milan
1986 Igor Belanov Dynamo Kyiv
1985 Michel Platini Juventus FC
1984 Michel Platini Juventus FC
1983 Michel Platini Juventus FC
1982 Paolo Rossi Juventus FC
1981 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Bayern Munich
1980 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Bayern Munich
1979 Kevin Keegan Hamburger SV
1978 Kevin Keegan Hamburger SV
1977 Allan Simonsen Borussia Mönchengladbach
1976 Franz Beckenbauer Bayern Munich
1975 Oleg Blokhin Dynamo Kyiv
1974 Johan Cruyff FC Barcelona
1973 Johan Cruyff FC Barcelona
1972 Franz Beckenbauer Bayern Munich
1971 Johan Cruyff AFC Ajax
1970 Gerd Müller Bayern Munich
1969 Gianni Rivera AC Milan
1968 George Best Manchester United
1967 Flórián Albert Ferencv rosi TC
1966 Bobby Charlton Manchester United
1965 Eusébio SL Benfica
1964 Denis Law Manchester United
1963 Lev Yashin Dynamo Moscow
1962 Josef Masopust Dukla Prague
1961 Omar Sívori Juventus FC
1960 Luis Suárez FC Barcelona
1959 Alfredo Di Stéfano Real Madrid
1958 Raymond Kopa Real Madrid
1957 Alfredo Di Stéfano Real Madrid
1956 Stanley Matthews Blackpool FC