The Ballon d’Or is arguably the most prestigious individual award for football players. It is an annual football award presented by French news magazine France Football.
France Football first started to give this award in 1956, but initially, only European footballers were considered for this prestigious award. Maradona and Pele, regarded by many as the best footballers never got a chance to win the award. But from 1995, France Football decided to consider non-European footballers for this award.
Do you know which country has the highest no of Ballon d’Or wins until July 2020? Check out the list below:
10. USSR
Ballon d’Or
Wins: 3
2nd place: 0
3rd place: 0
Winners: Lev Yashin (1963), Oleg Blokhine (1975), Igor Belanov (1986)
9. Spain
Ballon d’Or
Wins: 3
2nd place: 5
3rd place: 9
Winners: Alfredo Di Stefano (1957,1959), Luis Suarez (1960)
8. Brazil
Ballon d’Or
Wins: 5
2nd place: 2
3rd place: 4
Winners: Ronaldo (1997, 2002), Rivaldo (1999), Ronaldinho (2005), Kaka (2007)
7. Italy
Ballon d’Or
Wins: 5
2nd place: 9
3rd place: 3
Winners: Omar Sivori (1961), Gianni Rivera (1969), Paolo Rossi (1982), Roberto Baggio (1993), Fabio Cannavaro (2006)
6. England
Ballon d’Or
Wins: 5
2nd place: 8
3rd place: 5
Winners: Stanley Matthews (1956), Bobby Charlton (1966), Kevin Keegan (1978, 1979), Michael Owen (2001)
5. Argentina
Ballon d’Or
Wins: 6
2nd place: 5
3rd place: 1
Winners: Lionel Messi (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019)
4. France
Ballon d’Or
Wins: 6
2nd place: 5
3rd place: 11
Winners: Raymond Kopa (1958), Michel Platini (1983, 1984, 1985), Jean-Pierre Papin (1991), Zinedine Zidane (1998)
3. Netherlands
Ballon d’Or
Wins: 7
2nd place: 4
3rd place: 6
Winners: Johan Cruyff (1971, 1973, 1974), Ruud Gullit (1987), Marco van Basten (1988, 1989, 1992)
2. Portugal
Ballon d’Or
Wins: 7
2nd place: 10
3rd place: 1
Winners: Eusebio (1965), Luis Figo (2000), Cristiano Ronaldo (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)
1. Germany
Ballon d’Or
Wins: 7
2nd place: 10
3rd place: 11
Winners: Gerd Muller (1970), Franz Beckenbauer (1972, 1976), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (1980, 1981), Lothar Matthaus (1990), Matthias Sammer (1996)
If Maradona and Pele had the chance the to win Ballon d’Ors during their time, Argentina and Brazil would have definitely been the top 2 countries.
Source: Oh My Goal
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