How Many Ballon d'Ors Does Messi Have?
Translated literally as the Golden Ball, the Ballon d'Or is the award given by France Football magazine to the best footballer of the year. They have done so in collaboration with UEFA since 2024, but the first trophy was presented in 1958. It is one of, if not the, most prestigious awards presented in football. Since any professional footballer is eligible for the Ballon d'Or, this means the winner is considered the best footballer in the world according to the organizers. Many people use it as a metric of greatness in football with Lionel Messi winning more than any footballer, but how many Ballon d'Ors does Messi have?
Messi is the player with the most Ballon d'Ors in history with a total of eight awards. He won most of them while playing for FC Barcelona, the team that shaped his career. His first win was in 2009 and his last in 2023. Cristiano Ronaldo is the footballer with the second most Ballon d'Orswith five. oneHOWTO shares the full list of winning years for Messi and the Ballon d'Or.
How many Ballon d'Ors does Leo Messi have?
Lionel ‘Leo’ Messi leads the Ballon d'Or rankings with a total of eight trophies. He won his first in December 2009, beating Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta in the voting. The Argentine forward earned 473 points to claim his first Ballon d'Or.
He won his second Ballon d'Or a year later in 2010, beating Xavi and Iniesta again. He won his third award in 2011, beating his rivals with 47.88% of the total vote. Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi completed the podium that year.
Messi won his fourth consecutive Ballon d'Or in 2012, but he had to wait three more years to lift his fifth trophy. This didn't happen until 2015, beating Neymar and Cristiano in the vote. The Argentine striker won his sixth Ballon d'Or in 2019 thanks to winning La Liga with FC Barcelona, being the top scorer in European football (to win the Golden Boot) with 36 goals and the top scorer in the Champions League with 12 goals.
In 2021, Messi won his seventh Ballon d'Or after beating Robert Lewandowski in the voting. He won his eighth and final Ballon d'Or in 2023, beating Haaland and Mbappé in the vote. His greatest achievement that year was winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with Argentina.
It is not only the players who earn footballing glory. Learn more with our article asking which football managers have won the most trophies in history?
Men's Ballon d'Or winners list
The Ballon d'Or was created in 1956, but it wasn't until 2018 that the prize was also given to the best female player. This is the list of male winners of the Ballon d'Or since its inception:
- 1956: Stanley Matthews.
- 1957: Alfredo Di Stefano.
- 1958: Raymond Kopa.
- 1959: Alfredo Di Stefano.
- 1960: Luis Suárez.
- 1961: Omar Sivori.
- 1962: Josef Masopust.
- 1963: Lev Yashin.
- 1964: Denis Law.
- 1965: Eusébio da Silva.
- 1966: Bobby Charlton.
- 1967: Flórian Albert.
- 1968: George Best.
- 1969: Gianni Rivera.
- 1970: Gerd Müller.
- 1971: Johan Cruyff.
- 1972: Franz Beckenbauer.
- 1973: Johan Cruyff.
- 1974: Johan Cruyff.
- 1975: Oleg Blokhin.
- 1976: Franz Beckenbauer.
- 1977: Allan Simonsen.
- 1978: Kevin Keegan.
- 1979: Kevin Keegan.
- 1980: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
- 1981: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
- 1982: Paolo Rossi.
- 1983: Michel Platini.
- 1984: Michel Platini.
- 1985: Michel Platini.
- 1986: Igor Belanov.
- 1987: Ruud Gullit.
- 1988: Marco van Basten.
- 1989: Marco van Basten.
- 1990: Lothar Matthäus.
- 1991: Jean-Pierre Papin.
- 1992: Marco van Basten.
- 1993: Roberto Baggio.
- 1994: Hristo Stoichkov.
- 1995: George Weah.
- 1996: Matthias Sammer.
- 1997: Ronaldo Nazário.
- 1998: Zinedine Zidane.
- 1999: Rivaldo.
- 2000: Luis Figo.
- 2001: Michael Owen.
- 2002: Ronaldo Nazário.
- 2003: Pavel Nedved.
- 2004: Andriy Shevchenko.
- 2005: Ronaldinho.
- 2006: Fabio Cannavaro.
- 2007: Kaká.
- 2008: Cristiano Ronaldo.
- 2009: Lionel Messi.
- 2010: Lionel Messi.
- 2011: Lionel Messi.
- 2012: Lionel Messi.
- 2013: Cristiano Ronaldo.
- 2014: Cristiano Ronaldo.
- 2015: Lionel Messi.
- 2016: Cristiano Ronaldo.
- 2017: Cristiano Ronaldo.
- 2018: Luka Modrić.
- 2019: Lionel Messi.
- 2021: Lionel Messi.
- 2022: Karim Benzema.
- 2023: Lionel Messi.
- 2024: Rodrigo Hernández.
As you can see, Lionel Messi appears on this list more than any other. His full list of winning years is the following:
- 2009
- 2010
- 2011
- 2012
- 2015
- 2019
- 2021
- 2023
Since 2020 was the year of the COVID pandemic, no Ballon d'Or was awarded at that time. It is possible this could have been Messi's 9th trophy if this wasn't the case.
In addition to FC Barcelona, you can discover the best soccer leagues in the world with our related guide.
Players with the most Ballon d'Or awards
While Messi is the player who has won the most Ballon d'Or trophies in history, this could change in the future. We look at the players with the most Ballon d'Ors:
- Lionel Messi: 8.
- Cristiano Ronaldo: 5.
- Michel Platini: 3.
- Johan Cruyff: 3.
- Franz Beckenbauer: 2.
- Alfredo Di Stéfano: 2.
- Ronaldo Nazário: 2.
- Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: 2.
- Kevin Keegan: 2.
Who votes for the Ballon d'Or?
The Ballon d'Or is an annual award given by French football magazine appropriately titled France Football. Since 2024, it has done so in partnership with UEFA. It is given to the best footballer of the calendar year. Worldwide, it is considered the highest individual recognition in the sport.
It was created in 1956 by the then director of France Football, Gabriel Hanot. The award was initially open only to players with European nationality and who were actively playing in Europe. Since 1995, non-European footballers playing in any European league were also eligible for the Ballon d'Or.
All restrictions were lifted in 2007, allowing any footballer from anywhere in the world to win the award. Regarding the Ballon d'Or voting, a total of 100 journalists from the 100 highest-ranked countries according to FIFA are responsible for voting among the nominated players.
The format for selecting the Ballon d'Or is as follows:
Journalists from the France Football and L'Équipe editorial offices select a total of 30 nominated players whom they consider worthy winners of the trophy. For the women's Ballon d'Or, only 20 players are nominated.
Now that you know how many Ballon d'Ors Messi has, find out what are the UEFA financial fair play regulations?
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