Every footballer fortunate enough to play top-flight football in Europe and worldwide dreams of winning the Ballon d’Or trophy. Since its debut in the mid-20th century, Ballon d’Or has become the gold standard for assessing footballers. Some persons even deem it more credible than similar awards organised by the world football governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
Although it began as a continental mark recognition, the Ballon d’Or has become a global phenomenon that has got virtually all footballers, journalists, pundits, and fans of the beautiful game riveted. To demonstrate how significant this “gold standard” is, the choice of who goes home with the gong has, at times, elicited various debates and reactions, as well as drawn controversies from football fans, the media, and even the players themselves.
Many highly celebrated players in world football have received this illustrious gong, while others continue to strive to get this coveted prize. So, what is the Ballon d’Or? How has it influenced the state of global football? Who have been the top recipients of the Ballon d’Or?
Meaning of Ballon d’Or
The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by France Football, a French news magazine, to the players deemed to be the best men and women’s footballers in the world for a particular year, specifically the preceding year of the award. Known in English as the “Golden Ball,” the award is one of the most prestigious individual accolades in world football. Some football experts, stakeholders, players, and fans even consider it more esteemed than The Best, the award for the best player in the world organised by FIFA.
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The Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s Ballon d’Or) is the women’s version of the award, which is also bestowed by France Football upon the player considered to be the best in the women’s game for a particular year.
The Ballon d’Or trophy (both men and women) has a sphere filled with a wax-like material, which is chiselled to give the shape and seam of the spherical representation of a football. Two brass plates are carved and designed to give the trophy the shape of a ball, and the trophy is then bathed in gold, with the France Football logo and the winner’s name engraved on it. It is 28 centimetres in height, has a diameter of 22 centimetres, and weighs around 12 kilogrammes.
There are two stages of voting or deciding the winner of the Ballon d’Or. The first stage consists of a panel of football experts chosen by the editorial team at France Football, who make a 30-player shortlist of nominees for the award. In terms of the women’s award, a panel of women football experts selected by the organisers make a 20-player shortlist of nominees for the award.
After the nominees have been decided, a jury, comprising 180 journalists from around the world, each representing a country, is selected and composed by the organisers and asked to choose five footballers from the 30-player shortlist. For the women’s award, a separate jury, consisting of 50 journalists from around the world, is asked to select their top five players from a 20-player shortlist.
For both awards, the different juries are mandated to consider the following criteria during voting:
- Individual and collective performances during the year: both at domestic (leagues) and international levels
- Talent and fair play attitude of the player
- Players’ career
In terms of ranking, the top five players voted by each journalist voting for both awards receive the following points in descending order:
- First: Six points
- Second: Four points
- Third: Three points
- Fourth: Two points
- Fifth: One point
Upon completing the compilation and tallying of votes, the player who receives the most points will be awarded the top award. If two or more players are tied on points, the player who got the highest number of first-place votes is used as the tie-breaker to decide the award recipient.
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History of Ballon d’Or
The Ballon d’Or was conceived by Gabriel Hanot and Jacques Ferran, who were both journalists working for L’Équipe, a nationwide daily newspaper devoted to the coverage of sport in France, in 1956. This makes it one of the oldest individual awards presented to football players.
Although the journalists worked for another publication, their idea was implemented by France Football, a weekly French football magazine. However, it is important to note that both L’Équipe and France Football belong to Group L’Équipe, the umbrella company that controls both publications.
At the inception of the award, the Ballon d’Or was awarded to players of European origin only. Also, the award was, at its start, strictly for the male player deemed to have performed the best over the previous year, based on voting by football journalists. Stanley Matthews of Blackpool and England was the award’s inaugural winner in 1956.
Due to its voting disposition, the award was referred to as the continental European Footballer of the Year by most international media. However, the eligibility criterion was expanded for the first time in 1995. All players who played for European clubs became eligible to win the award. This change led to George Weah of Liberia, who had a stellar season with the Italian giants, AC Milan, becoming the first non-European to win the Ballon d’Or in 1995. Weah’s win paved the way for some of the game’s heralded footballers who are not of European descent to clinch the trophy.
The eligibility criteria were further expanded in 2007, and the award finally expanded to include all players worldwide. With this expansion, the Ballon d’Or became a global prize for all professional footballers plying their trade anywhere in the world.
The award took a new dimension in 2010 when it was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year award and was subsequently called the FIFA Ballon d’Or. The FIFA Ballon d’Or was awarded six times before the partnership ended in 2015. The award reverted to the Ballon d’Or in 2016, while FIFA also reverted to its separate annual award, now known as The Best FIFA Men’s Player.
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Women footballers could finally shatter the glass ceiling, as the Ballon d’Or Féminin was first awarded in 2018. Also organised by France Football, the award recognises a woman footballer who is deemed to have shorn the brightest for a particular year. Ada Hegerberg of Olympique Lyonnais Féminin and Norway became the award’s inaugural recipient.
In 2020, the organisers decided not to present the award to any player due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which gravely affected the schedule of football clubs and tournaments worldwide.
A year after the award returned in 2021, the organisers announced modifications to the award criteria. From its 66th edition in the year 2022, the Ballon d’Or will now be awarded based on the performance of a player in a particular season rather than its customary timeline of the preceding calendar year. For instance, the 2022 Ballon d’Or will be awarded based on the performance of the men and women footballers for the 2021/2022 season, instead of just the 2021 calendar year.
In addition, individual performances of the nominated players in the season under review now become the number one criterion, while considering players’ whole careers has been relegated.
Top 10 Ballon d’Or winners
| NAME OF PLAYER | AMOUNT OF TIMES AND YEARS WON |
| Lionel Messi (Argentina) | 7 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021) |
| Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) | 5 (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017) |
| Michel Platini (France) | 3 (1983, 1984, 1985) |
| Johan Cruyff (Netherlands) | 3 (1971, 1973, 1974) |
| Marco van Basten (Netherlands) | 3 (1988, 1989, 1992) |
| Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) | 2 (1972, 1976) |
| Ronaldo de Lima (Brazil) | 2 (1997, 2002) |
| Alfredo Di Stéfano (Spain) | 2 (1957, 1959) |
| Kevin Keegan (England) | 2 (1978, 1979) |
| Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Germany) | 2 (1980, 1981) |
Winners of Ballon d’Or Féminin
| NAME OF PLAYER | AMOUNT OF TIMES AND YEARS WON |
| Ada Hegerberg (Norway) | 1 (2018) |
| Megan Rapinoe (USA) | 1 (2019) |
| Alexia Putellas (Spain) | 1 (2021) |
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