The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by French magazine France Football  to the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season.

The first Ballon d’Or was presented in 1956 and since then the award has been presented to some of the greatest names in the sport.  

Here are men footballers with the most Ballon d’Or wins:

1. Lionel Messi – 8 

Lionel Messi is the all-time leading football player with most Ballon d’Or awards. He has won the prestigious honour eight times in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023. It is a record that might never be broken, at least in the near future.  

All of his Ballon d’Or wins came during his days with Spanish club Barcelona. After the Copa America 2024 title win, fans were hoping for the Argentine’s ninth Ballon d’Or award. However, he did not feature in the list of the nominees for the 2024 award that was released this week.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo – 5 

Cristiano Ronaldo has won the coveted Ballon d’Or on five occasions. In fact, Lionel Messi and Ronaldo dominated the award scene by winning the trophy a combined 12 out of 13 times between 2008 and 2021. 

The Portuguese football star won the award in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. He came runners-up six times.

3. Michel Platini – 3 

French football legend Michel Platini won the Ballon d’Or award thrice consecutively. He bagged the honours in 1983, 1984 and 1985. One of the best midfielders of his generation, Platini won one UEFA Euro Championship with France, one UEFA Champions League and two Serie A league titles with Juventus. He also served as the President of UEFA until 2015. 

4. Johan Cruyff – 3 

Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff won the trophy thrice with AFC Ajax. He won the titlen 1971, 1973 and 1974, putting him on the list of players with the most Ballon d’Or awards. Cruyff also won the Dutch Eredivisie nine times and the Spanish La Liga once with Barcelona.

5. Marco van Basten – 3 

Marco van Basten is one of the five players to win the Ballon d’Or three or more times. The legendary footballer from the Netherlands won it back in 1988, 1989 and 1992. He won one UEFA Euro trophy with the Dutch national team and two Champions League titles with AC Milan. 

Here is a complete list of Ballon d’Or (Men)

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