The Ballon d’Or is the pinnacle of individual honours in football – for those who care, anyway.
For years, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had an unshakeable grip on the golden ball, before Luka Modric disrupted things in 2018, becoming the first different winner since 2007.
With that in mind, the last few winners of the prestigious award may have been forgotten. Here, we have a look back on the last 10 individuals to win the award.
Ballon d'Or past winners: The best XI of former champions
Probably the only time you’ll ever see Messi and Ronaldo in the same team.
1 ByBarney LaneOct 23, 2024 1 Rodri Winner: 2024
Manchester City midfielder Rodri was a deserved winner in 2024 – depending on who you ask. Ahead of the ceremony, it was widely believed that Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior – a La Liga and Champions League winner in 2023/24 – was set to receive the top prize.
However, reports circulated that he was set to be snubbed, and finish second to City star Rodri, who had guided his club side to another Premier League title and been an integral part of Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph.
It was at least nice to have some mystery over the winner, even if trophies appeared to dictate the destiny of the frontrunners once again.
Why Rodri won the 2024 Ballon d'Or
Not even a season-ending injury could stop Manchester City’s Rodri from claiming football’s biggest individual prize.
ByBarney LaneOct 28, 2024 2 Lionel Messi Winner: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023
Before Messi won his first, the record for most wins was three. Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten had all achieved that improbable feat. The fact that Messi has more than doubled that record is simply ridiculous.
But then, we’d never seen a footballer like Messi before. No one in the history of the game has been this good for this long – even three years at the very top was near-impossible. You can make it look even crazier by introducing the fact that after that win, he had only failed to make the top three in 2018 and 2022 since 2006.
Messi collected his eighth Ballon d’Or at the 2023 ceremony, with the World Cup triumph perhaps the deciding factor over the runner-up, Erling Haaland.
After all, he did score an astounding seven goals in Qatar whilst laying on three assists.
3 Karim Benzema Winner: 2022
Karim Benzema won the 2022 award in dominant fashion. He had over 350 votes more than second-placed Sadio Mané, making it one of the most dominant wins we’ve seen for the award.
And it was deserved. Real Madrid were sensational in 2022, winning La Liga and the Champions League. Benzema was their star performer with 44 goals in all competitions – a season that saw him finally take his place as the team’s main man after so many years in a supporting role.
Benzema was able to use the award to write his name into history – something very few players of his generation have managed.
4 Luka Modric Winner: 2018
Luka Modric’s Ballon d’Or came after another incredible Real Madrid season in which they secured a third consecutive Champions League trophy, as well as La Liga. On top of that, the Croatian led his country as captain to the World Cup final.
For a nation the size of Croatia, that is simply amazing as they went one better than their legendary 1998 team. It cemented Modric as the greatest to ever wear the shirt – and that will be true for a very long time.
Of course, this win was also notable as it was the first time that neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or since 2007. It ended a streak that we’d never seen before and will almost certainly never see again.
5 Cristiano Ronaldo Winner: 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017
Ronaldo sits second all-time for the Ballon d’Or, three behind Messi and two ahead of anyone else. Yet seeing those dates there undersells just how incredible the Portuguese superstar has been.
For if it wasn’t for Messi, Ronaldo would likely win in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015. Now, you can argue that the pair pushed one another to reach those heights and consistency but really, they’ve gotten in each other’s way.
Ronaldo almost certainly never wins another Ballon d’Or, but his haul of five likely stands unthreatened for a very long time to come. What he and Messi have achieved since 2008 has been utterly ridiculous.
6 Kaká Winner: 2007
It’s quite incredible that we’re five names in here and have already jumped all the way back to 2007. This was a time when the Ballon d’Or winner changed year-on-year, and we need to get back to 2002 before seeing a repeat winner again.
2007 saw Kaká get his turn, though, as his playmaking led Milan to the Champions League trophy. The Brazilian just had it all going forward that season – fast, strong, elite passing, finishing, and a touch as good as any you’ll see.
10 goals in that Champions League campaign sealed the deal – no other player managed more than six. It was unquestionably Kaká’s year.
7 Fabio Cannavaro Winner: 2006
This one does have a little bit of controversy to it, if we’re being honest. Cannavaro was a worthy winner, given Italy won the World Cup that year based primarily on their incredible defence. Nothing shows that better than their goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, coming second in the voting.
Cannavaro, as Italy’s captain and star defender, earned the plaudits and he was arguably the best defender on the planet at the time. He was also the first defender to win the award since Matthias Sammer in 1996, while no defender has won it since.
But we do have to mention that while Juventus and Cannavaro did win Serie A that year, they would be stripped of the trophy after the Calciopoli scandal. The centre-back did have the World Cup to fall back on – and he likely did deserve it anyway – but it was a blight on that year of Italian football.
8 Ronaldinho Winner: 2005
It feels strange to write one year next to Ronaldinho’s name as he really did deserve to win more than one Ballon d’Or. The Brazilian was the player of his generation and essentially defined this era of football.
What Ronaldinho did with Barcelona in the middle part of the decade was extraordinary. Of course, his numbers look fairly pedestrian by today’s standards but it’s impossible to truly get across what made him special without watching him.
There’s a good argument that he should have won in 2006, too, given he was probably even better as Barcelona won La Liga and the Champions League. Brazil’s lacklustre World Cup campaign robbed him of that chance, though. Still, no one thinks back on this era without thinking about Ronaldinho.
9 Andriy Shevchenko Winner: 2004
Shevchenko was a goalscoring powerhouse for around 10 years – and 2004 might have been him at his best. He scored 29 goals in all competitions which was a fantastic amount in Serie A at that time, not to mention that two-striker formations were far more common at the time.
AC Milan won the title that year on the back of Shevchenko’s scoring, helping to boost his standing for the award. But we do need to mention that a bizarre year of football made picking a winner extraordinarily difficult.
Porto won the Champions League under José Mourinho, though few of their players were really good enough to win the Ballon d’Or (Deco did finish second). Even more bizarre was Greece winning Euro 2004 – one of the maddest things to ever happen in football. There’s no question that they didn’t have a player capable of winning.
Thus, Shevchenko found himself at the top of the pile.
10 Pavel Nedved Winner: 2003
Nedved is, if we’re being honest, probably the player on this list with the lowest reputation. Arsenal fans will argue all day long that Thierry Henry should have won this award – a player with a mountain of votes to his name over the years, but no Ballon d’Or.
But Nedved was the outstanding player for Juventus as they won Serie A (legitimately, even) and reached the Champions League final, losing on penalties to Milan. World Soccer also named him their Player of the Year, UEFA named him Midfielder of the Year, and Serie A – the strongest league of the time – considered him their best player, too.
Still, this one carries a little controversy, despite Nedved winning with 190 votes to Henry’s 128. We think he did deserve it but 20 years later, it remains up for debate.