Events in Sport
Inaugural Ballon d'Or
1956-12-18 Ballon d'Or: Blackpool & England winger Stanley Matthews wins inaugural award for best football player in Europe; beats Real Madrid pair Alfredo Di Stéfano & Raymond Kopa
- 1957-12-17 Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid forward Alfredo Di Stéfano wins award for best football player in Europe ahead of Englishmen Billy Wright and Duncan Edwards
Ballon d'Or
1958-12-16 Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid's French midfielder Raymond Kopa wins award for best football player in Europe ahead of German winger Helmut Rahn and French forward Just Fontaine
- 1959-12-15 Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid forward Alfredo Di Stéfano wins his second award for best football player in Europe ahead of teammate Raymond Kopa and Juventus' Welsh utility John Charles
Ballon d'Or
1960-12-13 Ballon d'Or: Barcelona midfielder Luis Suárez is named best football player in Europe ahead of Real Madrid's Hungarian forward Ferenc Puskás and Hamburg striker Uwe Seeler
- 1961-12-12 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' Argentine forward Omar Sívori wins award for best football player in Europe ahead of Spanish midfielder Luis Suárez and English forward Johnny Haynes
- 1962-12-18 Ballon d'Or: Dukler Prague midfielder Josef Masopust wins award for best European football player; beats Benfica striker Eusébio and FC Köln defender Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
- 1963-12-17 Ballon d'Or: Dynamo Moscow goalkeeper Lev Yashin wins award for best European football player; beats Milan midfielder Gianni Rivera and Tottenham striker Jimmy Greaves; first Russian national to win trophy
- 1964-12-22 Ballon d'Or: Manchester United striker Denis Law wins award for best European football player; beats Inter midfielder Luis Suárez and Real Madrid winger Amancio Amaro; first Scotsman to win the award
- 1965-12-28 Ballon d'Or: Benfica striker Eusébio wins award for best European football player; first Portuguese national to win, and still only Benfica player
- 1966-12-27 Ballon d'Or: Manchester United midfielder Bobby Charlton wins award for best European football player; claims award by a single point ahead of Benfica striker Eusébio
- 1967-12-26 Ballon d'Or: Ferencváros forward Flórián Albert wins award for best European football player ahead of Manchester United midfielder Bobby Charlton and Celtic winger Jimmy Johnstone
- 1968-12-24 Ballon d'Or: Manchester United's winger George Best wins award for best European football player ahead of teammate Bobby Charlton and Red Star Belgrade winger Dragan Džajić; first Northern Irish national to win the award
Ballon d'Or
1969-12-23 Ballon d'Or: Milan midfielder Gianni Rivera wins award for best European football player ahead of Cagliari forward Luigi Riva and Bayern Munich striker Gerd Müller
- 1970-12-29 Ballon d'Or: Bayern Munich striker Gerd Müller wins award for best European football player ahead of West Ham United defender Bobby Moore and Cagliari forward Luigi Riva
Ballon d'Or
1971-12-28 Ballon d'Or: Ajax forward Johan Cruyff wins award for best European football player ahead of Inter forward Sandro Mazzola and Manchester United winger George Best; first Dutch national and Ajax player to win award
- 1972-12-26 Ballon d'Or: Bayern Munich defender Franz Beckenbauer wins award for best European football player ahead of tied fellow German duo of Gerd Müller and Günter Netzer
- 1973-12-25 Ballon d'Or: Ajax forward Johan Cruyff wins his second award for best European football player ahead of Juventus goalkeeper Dino Zoff and Bayern Munich striker Gerd Müller
- 1974-12-31 Ballon d'Or: Ajax forward Johan Cruyff wins back-to-back awards, and his 3rd overall, for best European football player ahead of Bayern Munich defender Franz Beckenbauer and Legia Warsaw midfielder Kazimierz Deyna
- 1975-12-30 Ballon d'Or: FC Dynamo Kyiv forward Oleg Blokhin claims award for best European football player ahead of former winners, Bayern Munich defender Franz Beckenbauer and Ajax forward Johan Cruyff
Ballon d'Or
1976-12-28 Ballon d'Or: Bayern Munich defender Franz Beckenbauer wins title of Europe's best football player for a 2nd time; beats Anderlecht winger Rob Rensenbrink and Dukla Prague goalkeeper Ivo Viktor
Ballon d'Or
1977-12-27 Ballon d'Or: Borussia Mönchengladbach's Danish forward Allan Simonsen is named Europe's best football player ahead of Hamburg forward Kevin Keegan and Nancy midfielder Michel Platini
- 1978-12-27 Ballon d'Or: Hamburg's English forward Kevin Keegan wins his 1st of 2 consecutive trophies as best football player in Europe; beats Barcelona striker Hans Krankl and Anderlecht winger Rob Rensenbrink
- 1979-12-25 Ballon d'Or: Hamburg's English forward Kevin Keegan wins his 2nd consecutive trophy as best football player in Europe; beats Bayern Munich forward Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Ajax sweeper Ruud Krol
- 1980-12-30 Ballon d'Or: Bayern Munich forward Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is named best European football player; beats German international teammate Bernd Schuster of FC Barcelona and Saint-Étienne midfielder Michel Platini
- 1981-12-29 Ballon d'Or: German 1-2-3 with Bayern Munich forward Karl-Heinz Rummenigge taking title of Europe's best football player for the 2nd straight year; beats teammate Paul Breitner and Barcelona midfielder Bernd Schuster
- 1982-12-28 Ballon d'Or: Juventus striker Paolo Rossi is named best European football player; beats Bordeaux midfielder Alain Giresse and Juventus' Polish midfielder Zbigniew Boniek
- 1983-12-27 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' French midfielder Michel Platini claims first of 3 trophies for Europe's best football player ahead of Liverpool midfielder Kenny Dalgleish and Vejle BK striker Allan Simonsen
- 1984-12-25 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' French midfielder Michel Platini is named Europe's best football player for the 2nd consecutive time; beats Bordeaux midfielder Jean Tigana and Verona striker Preben Elkjær
- 1985-12-24 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' French midfielder Michel Platini is named Europe's best football player for the 3rd consecutive time; beats Verona striker Preben Elkjær and Barcelona midfielder Bernd Schuster
- 1986-12-30 Ballon d'Or: Dynamo Kyiv's Ukrainian forward Igor Belanov is named best football player in Europe ahead of Barcelona striker Gary Lineker and Real Madrid forward Emilio Butragueño
- 1987-12-29 Ballon d'Or: Milan's Dutch midfielder Ruud Gullit wins best football player in Europe award ahead of Paulo Futre (Porto/Atlético Madrid) and Real Madrid striker Emilio Butragueño
Ballon d'Or
1988-12-27 Ballon d'Or: Milan 1-2-3; Dutch striker Marco van Basten wins his 1st of 3 best football player in Europe awards ahead of Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard
- 1990-12-25 Ballon d'Or: Inter's German sweeper Lothar Matthäus is named best football player in Europe ahead of Juventus striker Salvatore Schillaci and Inter defender Andreas Brehme
- 1991-12-24 Ballon d'Or: Marseille forward Jean-Pierre Papin is named Europe's best football player; first from the French League to win the trophy
- 1992-12-22 Ballon d'Or: Milan's Dutch striker Marco van Basten wins his 3rd title as best football player in Europe ahead of Barcelona forward Hristo Stoichkov and Ajax forward Dennis Bergkamp
- 1993-12-28 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' Italian striker Roberto Baggio is named Europe's best football player ahead of Inter forward Dennis Bergkamp and Manchester United striker Eric Cantona
Ballon d'Or
1994-12-20 Ballon d'Or: FC Barcelona's Bulgarian forward Hristo Stoichkov is named Europe's best football player ahead of Juventus striker Roberto Baggio and Milan defender Paolo Maldini
- 1995-12-24 Ballon d'Or: PSG/Milan's Liberian striker George Weah is named Europe's best football player; first edition where players born outside Europe permitted to receive votes
Ballon d'Or
1996-12-24 Ballon d'Or: Borussia Dortmund's German sweeper Matthias Sammer is named best football player in Europe ahead of PSV/Barcelona striker Ronaldo and Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer
- 1997-12-23 Ballon d'Or: Barcelona/Inter's Brazilian striker Ronaldo wins his first of 2 best football player in Europe awards ahead of Real Madrid forward Predrag Mijatović and Juventus midfielder Zinedine Zidane
- 1998-12-22 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' French midfielder Zinedine Zidane is named best football player in Europe ahead of Real Madrid striker Davor Šuker and Inter forward Ronaldo
Ballon d'Or
1999-12-21 Ballon d'Or: FC Barcelona's Brazilian midfielder Rivaldo is named best football player in Europe ahead of Manchester United midfielder David Beckham and Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko
Ballon d'Or
2000-12-19 Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid's Portuguese midfielder Luís Figo is named best football player in Europe ahead of Juventus midfielder Zinedine Zidane and Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko
- 2001-12-18 Ballon d'Or: Liverpool forward Michael Owen is named best football player in Europe ahead of Real Madrid striker Raúl and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn
- 2002-12-12 Ballon d'Or: Inter/Real Madrid forward Ronaldo is named best football player in Europe for a second time ahead of Real Madrid left back Roberto Carlos and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn
Ballon d'Or
2003-12-22 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' Czech midfielder Pavel Nedvěd is named best football player in Europe ahead of Arsenal forward Thierry Henry and Milan defender Paolo Maldini
Ballon d'Or
2004-12-13 Ballon d'Or: Milan's Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko is named best football player in Europe ahead of Deco (Porto/FC Barcelona) and Barcelona midfielder Ronaldinho
- 2005-11-28 Ballon d'Or: FC Barcelona's Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho is named best football player in Europe ahead of Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard and Liverpool's Steven Gerrard
- 2006-11-27 Ballon d'Or: Italy defender Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus/Real Madrid) is named best football player in Europe ahead of Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and Arsenal forward Thierry Henry
Ballon d'Or
2007-12-04 Ballon d'Or: Milan's Brazilian midfielder Kaká is named best football player in the world; first year in which players from clubs outside the UEFA federation eligible for nomination
Ballon d'Or
2008-12-02 Ballon d'Or: Manchester United's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo wins his first award as best football player in the world; Barcelona forward Lionel Messi 2nd, Liverpool striker Fernando Torres 3rd
Ballon d'Or
2009-12-01 Ballon d'Or: FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is named best football player in the world; wins award by a then record margin, 240 points ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid with Barcelona midfielder Xavi 3rd
- 2011-01-10 Ballon d'Or: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi wins 2nd straight award from teammates Andrés Iniesta & Xavi; Brazilian forward Marta wins women's award for 5th consecutive year
- 2012-01-09 FIFA Ballon d'Or: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi wins award for a record 3rd consecutive year; Japanese midfielder Homare Sawa wins women's award
- 2013-01-07 FIFA Ballon d'Or: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi wins award for a record 4th consecutive year; US forward Abby Wambach wins women's award
- 2014-01-13 FIFA Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid & Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo ends Lionel Messi's domination of award; FFC Frankfurt goalkeeper Nadine Angerer takes women's award
- 2015-01-12 FIFA Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid & Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo wins for a 2nd consecutive time; his 3rd award overall; VfL Wolfsburg midfielder Nadine Keßler is women's award winner
- 2016-01-11 FIFA Ballon d'Or: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi wins his record 5th award with 41.33% of the votes; American midfielder Carli Lloyd is Women's World Player of the Year
- 2016-12-12 Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo claims award for the 4th time; record winning margin of 429 from Lionel Messi
- 2017-12-07 Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo wins his 5th award to equal Lionel Messi's record; 2nd consecutive win for Ronaldo
Ballon d'Or
2018-12-03 Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modrić wins; first time since 2007 that either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't win award; Norwegian striker Ada Hegerberg is inaugural women's winner
- 2019-12-02 FIFA Ballon d'Or: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi wins his record 6th award from Liverpool's Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk; American midfielder Megan Rapinoe is Women's World Player of the Year
- 2021-11-29 FIFA Ballon d'Or: Argentina and PSG forward Lionel Messi wins his record 7th award from Robert Lewandowski; FC Barcelona attacking midfielder Alexia Putellas is Women's World Player of the Year
Ballon d'Or
2022-10-17 FIFA Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema wins his first award; Barcelona midfielder Alexia Putellas claims women's award for a second-straight season
- 2023-10-30 FIFA Ballon d'Or: Argentina and Inter Miami CF forward Lionel Messi wins his record 8th award from Manchester City striker Erling Haaland; Spanish World Cup MVP Aitana Bonmati took out the women's award
Didier Deschamps
Erling Haaland
Hope Solo
Marco van Basten
Paul Pogba
Raymond Kopa