Top 10 countries with the most Ballon d’Or winners in history

Ballon d’Or is awarded by the French outlet France Football to the best individual player in the preceding year. It is considered the highest individual honour in the world of football.

There have been many greats who have been awarded the Ballon d’Or. However, during the early days, the award was only given to European players, due to which Pele and Maradona were denied the award despite being the best players of their time. Now it is given to the best player regardless of his country.

So, Let’s take a look at the top 10 countries with the most Ballon d’Or winners in history:

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Here’s the top 10 countries with the most Ballon d’Or winners in history:

1. Argentina [8]

1. Lionel Messi (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021,2023)

2. Germany [7]

1. Franz Beckenbauer (1972, 1976)
2. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (1980, 1981)
3. Gerd Muller (1970)
4. Lothar Matthaus (1990)
5. Matthias Sammer (1996)

3. France [7]

1. Michel Platini (1983, 1984, 1985)
2. Raymond Kopa (1958)
3. Jean-Pierre Papin (1991)
4. Zinedine Zidane (1998)
5. Karim Benzema (2022)

4. Portugal [7]

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)
2. Eusebio da Silva Ferreira (1965)
3. Luis Figo (2000)

5. Netherlands [7]

1. Johan Cruyff (1971, 1973, 1974)
2. Marco van Basten (1988, 1989, 1992)
3. Ruud Gullit (1987)

6. Italy [5]

1. Fabio Cannavaro (2006)
2. Gianni Rivera (1969)
3. Paolo Rossi (1982)
4. Omar Sivori (1961)
5. Roberto Baggio (1993)

7. Brazil [5]

1. Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima (1997, 2002)
2. Kaka (2007)
3. Rivaldo (1999)
4. Ronaldinho (2005)

8. England [5]

1. Kevin Keegan (1978, 1979)
2. Bobby Charlton (1966)
3. Stanley Matthews (1956)
4. Michael Owen (2001)

9. Soviet Union [3]

1. Igor Belanov (1986)
2. Oleg Blokhin (1975)
3. Lev Yashin (1963)

10. Spain [3]

• Alfredo Di Stefano (1957, 1959)
• Luis Suarez (1960)

Other countries with Ballon d’Or winners

• Bulgaria – 1
• Croatia – 1
• Czech Republic – 1
• Czechoslovakia – 1
• Denmark – 1
• Hungary – 1
• Liberia – 1
• Northern Ireland – 1
• Scotland – 1
• Ukraine – 1

Read more:

Here’s why Cristiano Ronaldo is present but Messi is absent from the Ballon d’Or 2022 nominees list