What is the Ballon d'Or? Award history and why it matters so much to soccer players
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What is the Ballon d'Or? Award history and why it matters so much to soccer players originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Every October, the Ballon d'Or is a huge bone of contention for soccer fans around the globe, as the prestigious award prepares to add another superstar to its list of all-time great winners.
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As the new club season begins, fans and media take one last look at the previous campaign to identify the best player around the world.
Last year's men's winner Ousmane Dembele led Paris Saint-Germain to a second consecutive Champions League title, but he has challengers for the 2026 award thanks to those who excelled at the FIFA World Cup.
The Sporting News looks at why the Ballon d'Or is so special and how the winner is selected.
MORE:Who will win the Ballon d'Or in 2026? The Sporting News power rankings for latest award
What is the Ballon d'Or?
The Ballon d'Or, or "Golden Ball" in French, is the most prestigious individual award in world soccer, recognizing the best male and female players around the globe from the previous season.
Some of the greatest the game has ever seen, such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, and many others have been bestowed with the famous trophy.
First launched and awarded in 1956 by French publication France Football, the Ballon d'Or has been given out in every single year since, only missing the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2027 event will be the 70th edition of the men's award.
In 2018, the Ballon d'Or Feminin was introduced for the first time to honor the best female player in the world.
How is the Ballon d'or decided?
A panel of international journalists compiled by France Football comes up with the 30 finalists for the men's Ballon d'Or and the Yashin Award shortlist for the world's best goalkeeper.
The voting process for the final award was revised in 2022 to involve a media member from each of the top 100 nations in the FIFA men's world ranking (for the men's Ballon d'Or voting) and from the top 50 nations in the FIFA women's world ranking (for the women's Ballon d'Or vote).
The media members vote by selecting names from the list of finalists, and they rank their selections. Each vote is weighted with different point totals assigned based on the specific ranking of the player on the ballot. After all the votes are tallied, the player with the most points is awarded the Ballon d'Or.
While the award was initially limited to recognizing the best European player on the continent, in 1995 organizers opened it up to non-Europeans plying their trade in Europe to also be considered. In 2007, the award was expanded further so any player across the world could be eligible whether or not they played in Europe.
Alongside the change in timeline, voter base and player eligibility, the voting criteria was also updated in 2022 to eliminate consideration for overall career performance, which potentially skewed the 2021 vote in favor of Lionel Messi, and instead focus on three main factors:
- Individual performance in previous season (no longer by calendar year);
- Team success during the previous season;
- Player behavior and fair play during the season in consideration.
Why the Ballon d'Or matters so much to soccer players
The Ballon d'Or is widely considered the most prestigious individual award in soccer. While other awards, such as FIFA's The Best, have tried to emulate it, the Ballon d'Or is still by far the most widely known and coveted individual honor the sport has to offer.
Think of it like the Best Actor at the Oscars. While others may covet winning a Golden Globe or SAG Award, nothing tops winning an Academy Award.
Winning a Ballon d'Or can catapult a player's career to new heights that would be difficult to achieve without such an honor. It elevates a player from superstar status to legend, etched into the history of the sport in a way no other achievement can do.
Who has won the most Ballons d'Or awards?
From 2008 to 2021, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated the top echelon of world football, winning every single Ballon d'Or award in that span except for one, when Luka Modric won in 2018.
Nobody in history had remained atop the football world for such a long stretch. As a result, those two players have racked up the most Ballon d'Or awards in history. Messi has won the most, claiming the trophy eight times, while Ronaldo has won five.
Behind them, nobody in history had won more than three. Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff, and Marco van Basten each won three Ballon d'Or awards, while Franz Beckenbauer, Ronaldo 'O Fenomeno', Alfredo Di Stefano, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and Kevin Keegan each won two.
What are the other awards at the Ballon d'Or ceremony?
At the Ballon d'Or award gala, there are also other trophies handed out for individual excellence besides the men's and women's Ballon d'Or.
There is the Yashin Trophy, given to the best goalkeeper in the world, and the Kopa Trophy, which is awarded to the best young player under 21 years old.
Additionally, there are Coach of the Year awards for both men's and women's, the Gerd Muller trophy for the top scorer in the world, and the Socrates Award for sportsmanship and humanitarianism.