The Ballon d’Or is approaching its 70th anniversary with a wide range of different players having won the award since its first edition in 1956.
It has traveled to many different corners of the world and has been won by some of the most incredible footballers to ever grace the field, with Lionel Messi unrivaled at the top of the standings with eight wins.
Many of his triumphs came with Barcelona – although not all – and Spanish football has frequently been the country where he has won the Ballon d’Or in the last 15 years.
Let’s take a look at the leagues with the most Ballon d’Or wins in history.
La Liga – 24 wins
La Liga is the league with the most Ballon d’Or wins with 24 over the years.
Almost half of them came courtesy of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the late 2000s and 2010s, although Johan Cruyff and Alfredi Di Stefano also claimed multiple victories at Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.
No player outside of the Classic rivals Spanish has obtained this award.
Player |
Club |
Victories |
---|---|---|
Lionel Messi |
FC Barcelona |
6 |
Cristiano Ronaldo |
real Madrid |
4 |
Johan Cruyff |
FC Barcelona |
2 |
Alfredo Di Stefano |
real Madrid |
2 |
Luis Suarez |
FC Barcelona |
1 |
Rivaldo |
FC Barcelona |
1 |
Ronaldinho |
FC Barcelona |
1 |
Hristo Stoichkov |
FC Barcelona |
1 |
Raymond Kopa |
real Madrid |
1 |
Luis Figo |
real Madrid |
1 |
Ronaldo |
real Madrid |
1 |
Fabio Cannavaro |
real Madrid |
1 |
Luka Modric |
real Madrid |
1 |
Karim Benzema |
real Madrid |
1 |
Serie A – 18 wins
Serie A is close behind thanks to its string of victories in the 1980s and 1990s.
The now disgraced Michel Platini won the award for three consecutive years with Juventus, while the city of Milan also boasts winners such as Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Lothar Matthaus.
There hasn’t been a Serie A winner since 2007, when Kaká took the title playing for Milan.
Player |
Club |
Victories |
---|---|---|
Michael Platini |
Juventus |
3 |
Marco Van Basten |
AC Milan |
3 |
Omar Sivori |
Juventus |
1 |
Gianni Rivera |
AC Milan |
1 |
Paolo Rossi |
Juventus |
1 |
Ruud Gullit |
AC Milan |
1 |
Lothar Matthaus |
Inter Milan |
1 |
Roberto Baggio |
Juventus |
1 |
George Weah |
AC Milan |
1 |
Ronaldo |
Inter Milan |
1 |
Zinedine Zidane |
Juventus |
1 |
Andriy Shevchenko |
AC Milan |
1 |
Pavel Nedved |
Juventus |
1 |
kaka |
AC Milan |
1 |
Bundesliga – 9 wins
Some German greats have also had Ballon d’Or success: national team heroes Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge each won the award twice. Former England midfielder Kevin Keegan was also considered the best player in the world in the late 1970s and won two awards with Hamburg.
Player |
Club |
Victories |
---|---|---|
Franz Beckenbauer |
Bayern Munich |
2 |
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge |
Bayern Munich |
2 |
Kevin Keegan |
Hamburg |
2 |
Gerd Müller |
Bayern Munich |
1 |
Matias Sammer |
Borussia Dortmund |
1 |
Allan Simonsen |
Borussia Monchengladbach |
1 |
English First Division/Premier League: 6 wins
While his teams have won their fair share of European Cups and Champions Leagues, the old First Division and Premier League only have a select number of Ballon d’Or wins. Cristiano Ronaldo’s win with Manchester United and success Michael Owen’s with Liverpool are the only victories of the 21st century, while Blackpool’s Stanley Matthews won the first prize in history.
Player |
Club |
Victories |
---|---|---|
Stanley Matthews |
Blackpool |
1 |
Denis Law |
Man. Utd. |
1 |
Bobby Charlton |
Man. Utd. |
1 |
George Best |
Man. Utd. |
1 |
Michael Owen |
Liverpool |
1 |
Cristiano Ronaldo |
Man. Utd. |
1 |
Soviet First Division: 3 wins
Teams that were part of the Soviet Union still have a better Ballon d’Or record than most existing nations. Lev Yashin triumphed with Dinamo Moscow and remains the only goalkeeper to have won this award, although Ukraine’s Dynamo kyiv were more successful with two wins.
Player |
Club |
Victories |
---|---|---|
Lev Yashin |
Dynamo Moscow |
1 |
Oleg Blokhin |
Dynamo kyiv |
1 |
Igor Belanov |
Dynamo kyiv |
1 |
Ligue 1 – 2 wins
Jean-Pierre Papin was the first Ligue 1 winner thanks to his performances with Marseille in 1991, and Messi added a second victory in 2021.
Player |
Club |
Victories |
---|---|---|
Jean Pierre Papin |
OM |
1 |
Lionel Messi |
PSG |
1 |
MLS – 1 win
Did Messi’s performances with Inter Miami earn him the 2023 Ballon d’Or? No. Was he in David Beckham’s franchise when he lifted the iconic trophy for a record eighth time? Of course.
Player |
Club |
Victories |
---|---|---|
Lionel Messi |
Inter Miami |
1 |
Czechoslovak First League
Josef Masopust, of Dukla Prague, is the only representative of the Czechoslovak First Division, a division he won eight times. He led Czechoslovakia to third place in the 1960 European Championship and runner-up in the 1962 World Cup.
Player |
Club |
Victories |
---|---|---|
José Masopust |
Dukla Prague |
1 |
Hungarian League
Florian Albert is a Hungarian football legend who won the Ballon d’Or in 1967 while playing for Ferencvaros, where he spent his entire professional career. In 1967 he won the Hungarian league title and also won the title of Hungarian Player of the Year.
Player |
Club |
Victories |
---|---|---|
Florian Albert |
Ferencvaros |
1 |
Eredivisie
Ajax fans could easily claim the other two Ballon d’Ors won by Johan Cruyff with Barcelona as their own, but alas, we find no place for that sentiment. Cruyff’s victory remains the Dutch club’s only Ballon d’Or win, although Dennis Bergkamp and Jari Litmanen later finished in the top three in the voting.
Player |
Club |
Victories |
---|---|---|
Johan Cruyff |
Ajax |
1 |
First League
Easily one of the best players in world football during the 1960s, Eusebio was ridiculously prolific for both Benfica and Portugal. He won the award in 1965 and was also a finalist in 1962 and 1966.
Player |
Club |
Victories |
---|---|---|
Eusebio |
Benfica |
1 |
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