Ballon d’Or 2026: Full list of winners from 1956 to 2025; Harry Kane, Mbappe among contenders for 2026

Paris St Germain's Ousmane Dembele was the last winner of the award, winning it in Paris last year. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Ballon d’Or is an annual award, presented by the French magazine France Football, regarded as the most prestigious individual honour in the sport.

The elite accolade was presented for the first time in 1956 and the tradition has continued ever since. England’s Stanley Matthews was the first-ever recipient of the award.

The prestigious men’s award has been dominated over the last 15 years by Messi and his old adversary Cristiano Ronaldo, who have won it 13 times between them.

Here’s a look at the full list of men’s Ballon d’Or winners since 1956:

• Year / Player / (Club)
• 1956: Stanley Matthews (Blackpool)
• 1957: Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)
• 1958: Raymond Kopa (Real Madrid)
• 1959: Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)
• 1960: Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
• 1961: Omar Sivori (Juventus)
• 1962: Josef Masopust (Dukla Prague)
• 1963: Lev Yashin (Dynamo Moscow)
• 1964: Denis Law (Manchester United)
• 1965: Eusebio (Benfica)
• 1966: Bobby Charlton (Manchester United)
• 1967: Florian Albert (Ferencvaros)
• 1968: George Best (Manchester United)
• 1969: Gianni Rivera (AC Milan)
• 1970: Gerd Muller (Bayern Munich)
• 1971: Johan Cruyff (Ajax)
• 1972: Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)
• 1973: Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)
• 1974: Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)
• 1975: Oleg Blokhin (Dynamo Kyiv)
• 1976: Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)
• 1977: Allan Simonsen (Borussia Monchengladbach)
• 1978: Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)
• 1979: Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)
• 1980: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)
• 1981: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)
• 1982: Paolo Rossi (Juventus)
• 1983: Michel Platini (Juventus)
• 1984: Michel Platini (Juventus)
• 1985: Michel Platini (Juventus)
• 1986: Igor Belanov (Dynamo Kyiv)
• 1987: Ruud Gullit (AC Milan)
• 1988: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)
• 1989: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)
• 1990: Lothar Matthaus (Internazionale)
• 1991: Jean-Pierre Papin (Marseille)
• 1992: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)
• 1993: Roberto Baggio (Juventus)
• 1994: Hristo Stoichkov (Barcelona)
• 1995: George Weah (AC Milan)
• 1996: Matthias Sammer (Borussia Dortmund)
• 1997: Ronaldo (Internazionale)
• 1998: Zinedine Zidane (Juventus)
• 1999: Rivaldo (Barcelona)
• 2000: Luis Figo (Real Madrid)
• 2001: Michael Owen (Liverpool)
• 2002: Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
• 2003: Pavel Nedved (Juventus)
• 2004: Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan)
• 2005: Ronaldinho (Barcelona)
• 2006: Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid)
• 2007: Kaka (Milan)
• 2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
• 2009: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
• 2010: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
• 2011: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
• 2012: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
• 2013: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
• 2014: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
• 2015: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
• 2016: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
• 2017: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
• 2018: Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
• 2019: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
• 2020: Cancelled
• 2021: Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)
• 2022: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
• 2023: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)
• 2024: Rodri (Manchester City)
• 2025: Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain)