# The 43 Greatest Ballon d'Or Winners of All Time

> Seventy years of winners, and the gap between a one-season wonder and an eight-time champion is wider than any trophy cabinet suggests. The newest name has only just joined them.

*By YPB Team · Published October 27, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-43-greatest-ballon-dor-winners-of-all-time*

---

## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Andriy Shevchenko** — score 1000/1000
   AC Milan's Ukrainian striker and 2004 winner.
2. **Lionel Messi** — score 900/1000
   Argentine forward and record eight-time Ballon d'Or winner between 2009 and 2023.
3. **Matthias Sammer** — score 868/1000
   German sweeper who won in 1996 after leading Germany to the European title.
4. **Jean-Pierre Papin** — score 833/1000
   Marseille's French striker and 1991 winner.
5. **Cristiano Ronaldo** — score 800/1000
   Portuguese forward who won five Ballon d'Ors with Manchester United and Real Madrid.
6. **Luka Modrić** — score 763/1000
   Croatian midfielder who won in 2018 after leading his country to a World Cup final.
7. **Gianni Rivera** — score 676/1000
   AC Milan's elegant playmaker and 1969 winner, the first Italian-born recipient.
8. **George Best** — score 625/1000
   Manchester United winger who won in 1968, the year United won the European Cup.
9. **Flórián Albert** — score 567/1000
   Hungarian forward who won in 1967 with Ferencváros.
10. **Eusébio** — score 566/1000
   Benfica and Portugal striker known as the Black Panther, winner in 1965.
11. **Kaká** — score 566/1000
   AC Milan's Brazilian playmaker and 2007 winner, the last before the Messi-Ronaldo era.
12. **Lothar Matthäus** — score 566/1000
   German captain who won in 1990 after lifting the World Cup.
13. **Alfredo Di Stéfano** — score 566/1000
   Real Madrid's driving force of the 1950s and winner in 1957 and 1959.
14. **Franz Beckenbauer** — score 500/1000
   German sweeper known as Der Kaiser, winner in 1972 and 1976.
15. **Omar Sívori** — score 500/1000
   Argentine-Italian forward who won in 1961 with Juventus.
16. **George Weah** — score 500/1000
   Liberian striker and 1995 winner, the first African to claim the award.
17. **Karl-Heinz Rummenigge** — score 500/1000
   Bayern Munich forward who won in 1980 and 1981.
18. **Ruud Gullit** — score 500/1000
   Dutch powerhouse who won in 1987 in his first season at AC Milan.
19. **Zinedine Zidane** — score 500/1000
   French midfielder who won in 1998 after scoring twice in the World Cup final.
20. **Bobby Charlton** — score 500/1000
   England's 1966 World Cup hero who won the Ballon d'Or that same year.
21. **Marco van Basten** — score 423/1000
   Dutch striker who won three Ballon d'Ors at AC Milan before injury ended his career.
22. **Allan Simonsen** — score 423/1000
   Danish forward who won in 1977 with Borussia Mönchengladbach.
23. **Oleg Blokhin** — score 423/1000
   Dynamo Kyiv winger who won in 1975 after a Cup Winners' Cup triumph.
24. **Pavel Nedvěd** — score 423/1000
   Czech midfielder who won in 2003 with Juventus.
25. **Johan Cruyff** — score 423/1000
   Dutch master of Total Football and three-time winner in 1971, 1973 and 1974.
26. **Ousmane Dembélé** — score 423/1000
   PSG winger who won in 2025 after a treble-winning season.
27. **Michel Platini** — score 423/1000
   French playmaker who won three straight Ballon d'Ors with Juventus from 1983 to 1985.
28. **Lev Yashin** — score 333/1000
   Soviet goalkeeper and 1963 winner, the only keeper ever to take the award.
29. **Luís Figo** — score 333/1000
   Portuguese winger who won in 2000 after his move to Real Madrid.
30. **Paolo Rossi** — score 333/1000
   Italian striker who won in 1982 after his six goals won the World Cup.
31. **Josef Masopust** — score 333/1000
   Czechoslovak midfielder who won in 1962 after reaching the World Cup final.
32. **Fabio Cannavaro** — score 333/1000
   Italian captain and defender who won in 2006 after lifting the World Cup.
33. **Denis Law** — score 333/1000
   Scottish striker who won in 1964 with Manchester United.
34. **Hristo Stoichkov** — score 227/1000
   Bulgarian forward who won in 1994 after starring for Barcelona and at the World Cup.
35. **Raymond Kopa** — score 227/1000
   French playmaker who won in 1958 while starring for Real Madrid.
36. **Kevin Keegan** — score 227/1000
   English forward who won back-to-back awards with Hamburg in 1978 and 1979.
37. **Rodri** — score 227/1000
   Manchester City and Spain midfielder who won in 2024.
38. **Luis Suárez Miramontes** — score 227/1000
   Barcelona playmaker who won in 1960, Spain's only men's winner until Rodri.
39. **Ronaldinho** — score 0/1000
   Brazilian magician who won in 2005 during his Barcelona peak.
40. **Harry Kane** — score 0/1000
   England captain and Bayern Munich striker crowned the 2026 winner in London.
41. **Ronaldo Nazário** — score 0/1000
   Brazilian striker who won in 1997 at 21 and again in 2002 after a World Cup comeback.
42. **Michael Owen** — score 0/1000
   Liverpool striker who won in 2001 after a cup treble.
43. **Karim Benzema** — score 0/1000
   French striker who won in 2022 after a prolific Champions League-winning season with Real Madrid.

Tags: football, players, legends, awards, ballon d'or