FIFA Ballon d'Or

The FIFA Ballon d'Or (French pronunciation: ​[balɔ̃ dɔʁ], "Golden Ball") is an association football award given annually to the male player who is considered to have performed the best in the previous year. It is awarded based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams, as well as journalists from around the world.

The award started in 2010 after France Football's Ballon d'Or and the men's FIFA World Player of the Year award were merged. The winner of the inaugural 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or was Lionel Messi who then went on to reclaim the title the following two years. After the merger, the FIFA World Player of the Year award became a women-only award.

1956-2009

 * 1956: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Stanley Matthews
 * 1957: 🇦🇷 Alfredo Di Stéfano
 * 1958: 🇫🇷 Raymond Kopa
 * 1959: 🇪🇸 Alfredo Di Stéfano
 * 1960: 🇪🇸 Luis Suárez Miramontes
 * 1961: 🇮🇹 Omar Sívori
 * 1962: 🇨🇿 Josef Masopust
 * 1963: Lev Yashin
 * 1964: Denis Law
 * 1965: Eusébio
 * 1966: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bobby Charlton
 * 1967: 🇭🇺 Flórián Albert
 * 1968: George Best
 * 1969: 🇮🇹 Gianni Rivera
 * 1970: 🇩🇪 Gerd Müller
 * 1971: Johan Cruyff
 * 1972: 🇩🇪 Franz Beckenbauer
 * 1973: Johan Cruyff
 * 1974: Johan Cruyff
 * 1975: Oleg Blokhin
 * 1976: 🇩🇪 Franz Beckenbauer
 * 1977: Allan Simonsen
 * 1978: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Kevin Keegan
 * 1979: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Kevin Keegan
 * 1980: 🇩🇪 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
 * 1981: 🇩🇪 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
 * 1982: 🇮🇹 Paolo Rossi
 * 1983: 🇫🇷 Michel Platini
 * 1984: 🇫🇷 Michel Platini
 * 1985: 🇫🇷 Michel Platini
 * 1986: Igor Belanov
 * 1987: Ruud Gullit
 * 1988: Marco van Basten
 * 1989: Marco van Basten
 * 1990: 🇩🇪 Lothar Matthäus
 * 1991: 🇫🇷 Jean-Pierre Papin
 * 1992: Marco van Basten
 * 1993: 🇮🇹 Roberto Baggio
 * 1994: 🇧🇬 Hristo Stoichkov
 * 1995: 🇱🇷 George Weah
 * 1996: 🇩🇪 Matthias Sammer
 * 1997: 🇧🇷 Ronaldo
 * 1998: 🇫🇷 Zinedine Zidane
 * 1999: 🇧🇷 Rivaldo
 * 2000: Luís Figo
 * 2001: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Michael Owen
 * 2002: 🇧🇷 Ronaldo
 * 2003: 🇨🇿 Pavel Nedvěd
 * 2004: 🇺🇦 Andriy Shevchenko
 * 2005: 🇧🇷 Ronaldinho
 * 2006: 🇮🇹 Fabio Cannavaro
 * 2007: 🇧🇷 Kaká
 * 2008: Cristiano Ronaldo
 * 2009: 🇦🇷 Lionel Messi

FIFA Ballon d'Or (2010-present)

 * 2010: 🇦🇷 Lionel Messi
 * 2011: 🇦🇷 Lionel Messi
 * 2012: 🇦🇷 Lionel Messi
 * 2013: Cristiano Ronaldo