Top 10 countries with most Ballon d’Or winners

The Ballon d’Or, a prestigious football award, goes to the best performer in a season. It was created in 1956 by sports writer Gabriel Hanot and is presented by France Football. Initially, it was just for European players, but in 2007, it became global. From 2010 to 2015, FIFA and France Football jointly presented the FIFA Ballon d’Or.

When people mention the Ballon d’Or in football, they usually think of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. These two exceptional players have won a combined total of 13 Ballon d’Or awards. From 2008 to 2017, Messi and Ronaldo dominated the award, showcasing their incredible consistency and legacy. Luka Modric ended their streak by winning in 2018. The first-ever Ballon d’Or winner was Stanley Matthews, an Englishman.

List of top 10 countries with the most Ballon d’Or winners

Country	Number of Ballon d’Or Awards
Argentina	8
Portugal	7
Germany	7
Netherlands	7
France	6
Italy	5
Brazil	5
England	5
Soviet Union	3
Spain	3

Spain – 3

Spain is home to Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two most successful clubs in football. However, when we look at the number of Spanish Internationals to win the award, it stands at 3. Alfredo Di Stefano became the first Spaniard to win the award in 1957.

The Blancos legend who led Madrid to European success from 1955 to 1960, won his second in 1959. The next year again it was a Spaniard, Luis Suarez who won in 1960. However, he was the last Spaniard to win the award.

Soviet Union – 3

Joint with Spain on 3 Ballon d’Or winners the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union which was once the largest country in the world had 2 players who won the Ballon d’Or.

Lev Yashin, considered by many, the best goalkeeper ever, was the first player from the country to win in 1963. He also remains the first and only goalkeeper to win the award. The other two winners were Oleg Blokhin in 1975 and Igor Belanov in 1986.

England – 5

The English have won the prestigious award five times. The first winner was Stanley Mathew who won the inaugural Ballon d’Or in 1956. The Manchester United legend, the Late Sir Bobby Charlton became the 2nd Englishman to win the award when he won in 1966.

Kevin Keegan, the two-time winner won it in 1978 and 1979. Michael Owen was the last Englishman to win the award in 2001.

Brazil – 5

The most successful nation in World Cup history, Brazil has 4 Ballon d’Or winners. ‘El Fenomeno’ Ronaldo Nazario won it twice in 1997 and 2002. Among Ronaldo’s 2 awards, Rivaldo won it once in 1999.

Ronaldinho was the next Brazilian to win the award in 2005 with Barcelona. Kaka won it in 2007 to make it 5 Ballon d’Or for Brazil.

Italy – 5

The Italians, just like Brazil and England have won the prestigious award 5 times. 5 different players have won the award. Omar Sivori was the first to win it in 1961. 8 years later, in 1969, Gianni Rivera won it.

Paolo Rossi became the third Italian to win the award which he won in 1982. Rossi was followed by Roberto Baggio in 1982 and Fabio Cannavaro in 2006. On his way to winning the Ballon d’Or, Cannavaro led the Italians to World Cup glory in 2006.

France – 6

The award given by France Football was won by a French national in the 3rd edition of the award. It was Raymond Kopa, who became the first Frenchman to win in 1958. The infamous Michel Platini, former UEFA president became the first player to win 3 consecutive in a row when he won it in 1983, 1984, and 1985.

Six years later, Jean-Pierre Papin became the next French International to win it. Zinedine Zidane, ‘Zizou’ as he is famously known won the award in 1998. He was the last French player to win the award.

Netherlands – 7

Up next, we have the Dutch who have won the award a record 7 number of times along with Germany and Portugal. Despite winning it 7 times, only 3 players have won it. The legendary Johan Cruyff was the first Dutchman to win it in 1971. He went on to win it 2 more times in 1973 and 1974.

In 1987, Ruud Gullit became the second Dutchman to win the award. Gullit’s, AC Milan and Dutch teammate, Marco Van Basten won it for the next two consecutive years in 1988 and 1989. Van Basten added to his tally of 2 in 1992 when he won it for the 3rd time.

Germany – 7

The Germans got their first winner in 1970 when Gerd Muller won it. Later, in 1972 and 1976, Franz Beckenbauer won it twice to become the 2nd German to win the award. In the process, he also became the first defender to win the prestigious Ballon d’Or.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was the next on the list as he won in 1980 and 1981. 9 years later, Lothar Matthaus added another to the German’s tally, making it six. Matthias Sammer was the last German winner, an honor which he won in 1996.

Portugal – 7

Portugal is up there with Germany and Netherlands with 7 Ballon d’Or winners. Eusebio became the first Portuguese to win the award when he won it in 1965. Luis Figo followed him in 2000 to become the 2nd Portuguese winner. After that, it was Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best players in the world who won it 5 times to make it 7 for Portugal.

Cristiano won his first in 2008, to start the famous Messi-Ronaldo battle for the award. Ronaldo had to wait for five more for his next which he won in 2013 and then went on to win in 2014 as well. Ronaldo’s last two of the five honors came in 2016 and 2017.

Argentina – 8

Now, up top, we have Argentina to just overtake all these 3 countries on 7 Ballon d’Or awards. Or one must rather say, Lionel Messi has done it single-handedly. It is ‘La Pulga’ who is the only Argentinian winner but holds a record number of 8 Ballon d’Or individually.

Messi is now the 2023 Ballon d’Or winner, taking his tally to a record-breaking 8 for his country and for himself. The little boy from Rosario has won the awards in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, and now in 2023. The Argentinian won it for 4 consecutive years from 2009 to 2012.

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