Ballon d’Or: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo headlined the awards for over a decade since 2008. (Reuters)
Ballon d’Or 2024: The 68th edition of the iconic Ballon d’Or award will be presented by France Football at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on Monday evening.
Started in the year 1956, the Ballon d’Or represents the highest individual prize in world football and is being conducted by France Football in collaboration with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for the first time this season.
Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has won the award a record eight times. Messi is followed by his long-time European club football rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, who bagged the award five times between 2008 and 2017 while receiving a record 18 nominations since 2003.
Prior to the Messi-Ronaldo domination, only three other players – Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten – had lifted the Ballon d’Or thrice in their careers.
While Ronaldo and Messi have missed the cut for the 2024 Ballon d’Or for the first time in over two decades, Real Madrid and Brazil forward Vinicus Jr. has been marked as the hot favourite to claim the award for the 2023-24 season.
Ballon d’Or winners list
| Year | Player | Nationality | Club |
| 1956 | Stanley Matthews | England | Blackpool |
| 1957 | Alfredo Di Stefano | Argentina/Spain | Real Madrid |
| 1958 | Raymond Kopa | France | Real Madrid |
| 1959 | Alfredo Di Stefano | Argentina/Spain | Real Madrid |
| 1960 | Luis Suárez | Spain | Barcelona |
| 1961 | Omar Sivori | Italy | Juventus |
| 1962 | Josef Masopust | Czechoslovakia | Dukla Prague |
| 1963 | Lev Yashin | Soviet Union | Dynamo Moscow |
| 1964 | Denis Law | England | Manchester United |
| 1965 | Eusébio | Portugal | Benfica |
| 1966 | Bobby Charlton | England | Manchester United |
| 1967 | Flórián Albert | Hungary | Ferencváros |
| 1968 | George Best | Northern Ireland | Manchester United |
| 1969 | Gianni Rivera | Italy | Milan |
| 1970 | Gerd Müller | West Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1971 | Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | Ajax |
| 1972 | Franz Beckenbauer | West Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1973 | Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | Barcelona |
| 1974 | Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | Barcelona |
| 1975 | Oleg Blokhin | Soviet Union | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 1976 | Franz Beckenbauer | West Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1977 | Allan Simonsen | Denmark | Borussia Mönchengladbach |
| 1978 | Kevin Keegan | England | Hamburger SV |
| 1979 | Kevin Keegan | England | Hamburger SV |
| 1980 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | West Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1981 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | West Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1982 | Paolo Rossi | Italy | Juventus |
| 1983 | Michel Platini | France | Juventus |
| 1984 | Michel Platini | France | Juventus |
| 1985 | Michel Platini | France | Juventus |
| 1986 | Igor Belanov | Soviet Union | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 1987 | Ruud Gullit | Netherlands | Milan |
| 1988 | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | Milan |
| 1989 | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | Inter Milan |
| 1990 | Lothar Matthäus | Germany | Inter Milan |
| 1991 | Jean-Pierre Papin | France | Marselle |
| 1992 | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | Inter Milan |
| 1993 | Roberto Baggio | Italy | Juventus |
| 1994 | Hristo Stoichkov | Bulgaria | Barcelona |
| 1995 | George Weah | Liberia | Milan |
| 1996 | Matthias Sammer | Germany | Borussia Dortmund |
| 1997 | Ronaldo | Brazil | Inter Milan |
| 1998 | Zinedine Zidane | France | Juventus |
| 1999 | Rivaldo | Brazil | Barcelona |
| 2000 | Luís Figo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 2001 | Michael Owen | England | Liverpool |
| 2002 | Ronaldo | Brazil | Real Madrid |
| 2003 | Pavel Nedvěd | Czechia | Juventus |
| 2004 | Andriy Shevchenko | Ukraine | Milan |
| 2005 | Ronaldinho | Brazil | Barcelona |
| 2006 | Fabio Cannavaro | Italy | Real Madrid |
| 2007 | Kaká | Brazil | Milan |
| 2008 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Manchester United |
| 2009 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| 2010 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| 2011 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| 2012 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| 2013 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 2014 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 2015 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| 2016 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 2017 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| 2018 | Luka Modric | Croatia | Real Madrid |
| 2019 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| 2020 | Not awarded | —— | |
| 2021 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Paris-Saint Germain |
| 2022 | Karim Benzema | France | Real Madrid |
| 2023 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Inter Miami |
| 2024 | TBA |
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