The Ballon d’Or award is an esteemed accolade that recognises the best football player in the world. Since its inception in 1956, this honour has long been considered the pinnacle of individual achievement in football, with the winner usually considered by the majority to be the best player in the world at the time. Read on for the history, format and controversies behind this competitive and coveted award.
Fans can take the Ballon d’Or just as seriously as a cup final, as winning the Ballon d’Or not only brings personal glory but also elevates the reputation and prestige of the player’s club and nation. It often serves as a reflection of a team’s success and a testament to the quality of its players. The honour can also have commercial implications, boosting a player’s marketability and endorsement opportunities.
Holding tremendous significance in the footballing world, the Ballon d’Or serves as a recognition of an individual player’s exceptional talent, skill, and impact on the sport during a calendar year. Winning the Ballon d’Or places a player in an exclusive club, filled to rafters with legends of the game such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Michel Platini, all having etched their names into the very highest peak of football history through their mesmerising performances and outstanding achievements.
Origins and Development
The Ballon d’Or award was conceived in France, where it was initially created by France Football magazine. The inaugural edition was held in 1956, with the aim of recognizing the top European footballer of the year. The trophy itself, which translates to “Golden Ball,” symbolizes the exceptional skill, talent, and dedication required to be the best in the sport.
The Ballon d’Or was first introduced by the ‘France Football’ magazine in 1956. Gabriel Hanot, French journalist, former international footballer and editor of France Football, conceptualised the award alongside compatriot Jacques Ferran as a means to recognize the best European football player of that year, voted for by experts, which at his point were considered to be football journalists.
The award was at the time, aimed to honour individual excellence and showcase the pinnacle of talent within the European football landscape, whilst definitively answering who the best player European player was that year.
Football journalists would continue to decide who was bestowed the award up until 2007, when national team managers and captains would now vote alongside Football Joournalists win order to decide that year’s Ballon d’Or winner.
From 2010 to 2015, the Ballon d’Or conjoined with the FIFA’s World Player of the Year award to form the FIFA Ballon d’Or. This collaboration aimed to unite the recognition of individual excellence across the football world. However, the partnership concluded in 2016, and France Football regained sole control over the award, reverting to the original Ballon d’Or name.
Initially, the Ballon d’Or award was exclusive to European players who plied their trade in European leagues. The recognition and exposure given to European footballers through this award further elevated the status and reputation of the sport across the continent. In the early years, European players dominated the award, with names like Alfredo Di Stefano, Raymond Kopa, and Lev Yashin among the winners.
France Football Magazine would later retrospectively list the winners of the award if non-European players were included. Had they been from the beginning, Pele would have tied Messi’s current record with 7 Ballon d’Or awards and Maradona would have picked up two.
Stanley Matthews: The First Winner
The inaugural Ballon d’Or was awarded to Stanley Matthews, an English footballer well known for his dribbling skills and elegant playing style. Matthews, who played for Blackpool at the time, was already an icon of the game and as the first winner set a record that still stands to this day.
Famous for his lengthy playing career he retired at aged 50, but won the inaugural Ballon d’Or age 41, making him still the oldest player to ever win the award. He would just pip fellow legend of the game Alfredo Di Stefano by 3 points in the voting, with Matthews garnering 47 points making him the first of four Englishmen to ever win the award.
He earned plaudits for his incredible performances as Blackpool finished runners-up in the First Division. A 41-year-old Stanley Matthews starred for the team and also helped England to win the British Home Championship, beating Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
These performances earned huge acclaim from across Europe. The legendary Matthews, now into his 40s, was voted by journalists across Europe as the best player on the continent.
Evolution and Inclusion
In 1995, the competition opened its doors to include players from around the globe, leading to a more inclusive and comprehensive representation of football’s elite. It had certainly been a long time coming with South America having been at the summit of footballing talent for over 40 years.
It wasn’t all-inclusive yet however, as to be shortlisted for the award a non-EU player would still have to be playing for a European club. However, with the vast majority of elite players born outside of Europe plying their trade in European leagues by this point, it wouldn’t kick up much controversy.
It would feel like 40 years too late for many of the former elite-level talents that had previously been ineligible for the award despite carrying their European teams to glory. Names like Diego Maradona, Bebeto, Carlos Valderrama, Mario Kempes, and Paulo Roberto Falcão all played some of their best football in Europe before the change to the award.
The first year he would be eligible for the award Liberia and AC Milan star George Weah would win the trophy, becoming the only African player to ever win.
It would take a further 12 years before the award was expanded globally, now including potentially any player from any league and nation. 2007 was a far cry from the days of Pele, Garrincha, and Carlos Alberto tearing up the Brazillian league and since this change, a player playing outside of Europe hasn’t come close to winning, with few even making the shortlist. Since 2007 only 5 players have been nominated for their exploits outside of the European leagues.
Neymar came 10th and 13th playing for Santos in 2011 and 2012; in 2007 Rogerio Ceni and Juan Roman Riquelme would make the shortlist, playing at Sau Paulo and Boca Juniors respectively. Guillermo ‘6-fingered’ Ochoa another Latin American also made the list, at the time playing for Club America in Mexico.
The competitions only ever shortlisted player outside of South America (excluding the Mexican Ochoa) would be Younis Mahmoud, who was the talisman behind Iraq’s 2007 AFC Asian Cup victory.
In recent years, the Ballon d’Or has become a more inclusive award, not limited to specific positions on the field. While traditionally it was predominantly won by forwards, players from defensive positions, such as Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 and Virgil van Dijk in 2019, have also been acknowledged for their outstanding contributions to the sport.
Other non-attacking players to win include Matthias Sammer in 1996, Franz Beckenbauer in 1976, and Goalkeeper Lev Yashin in 1963.
In 2018, France Football introduced the Women’s Ballon d’Or to honor the best female football player of the year. This separate category highlighted the growing prominence and recognition of women’s football, providing a platform to celebrate the achievements of outstanding female athletes in the sport. The first four winners have been: Ada Hegerberg (2018), Megan Rapinoe(2019), and Alexia Putellas, who won back-to-back in 2021 and 2022
Selection Process
The Ballon d’Or winner was selected through a voting process conducted among a panel of international football journalists. Each journalist was responsible for ranking their top five choices, with points awarded accordingly (first place receives 5 points, followed by second place receiving 3 points, and the third choice earning 1 point).
The votes are then tallied, and the player with the highest overall score emerged as the winner. As previously mentioned, this changed in 2006, when managers, captains, and coaches became responsible for the selection process, but the format remained the same.
Messi vs Ronaldo
The competition for the Ballon d’Or is naturally fierce, with football’s greatest players hailing from nations across the world vying for the prestigious honor. Naturally, the award has witnessed some intense rivalries over the years, captivating fans worldwide.
The most prominent rivalry in recent times has been between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have shared the award between themselves for over a decade. Their remarkable individual performances and consistent excellence has served to elevate the significance of the award.
The period from 2008 onwards witnessed an unprecedented rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the Ballon d’Or. Both players have set astonishing records and consistently performed at an extraordinary level. Messi won the award six times between 2009 and 2019, while Ronaldo claimed the title five times between 2008 and 2017, With Messi claiming a 7th in 2021 to put himself two clear of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Criticism and Controversies
Like any prestigious award, the Ballon d’Or has faced its fair share of controversies and criticisms. Some argue that the voting process may be influenced by factors beyond pure performance, such as popularity, media coverage, or club affiliations. Others believe that the award should focus more on collective achievements rather than individual brilliance. Nevertheless, the enduring popularity and global attention it garners are testaments to its significance in the footballing world.
In 2013 Ribery and Messi had better overall stats than winner Ronaldo and achieved far more with their respective clubs, with Ribery winning a treble and achieving everything he could achieve with Bayern Munich that year, winning the DFB Pokal, Bundesliga, and Champions League.
Ronaldo would win the award thanks to 66 goals in 56 games, a spellbinding achievement, but the in-depth stats make a far better case for Ribery, with Messi certainly less deserving than the Frenchmen, but could certainly be argued to have as good a season as Ronaldo, whilst also winning more.
The voting time frame had also been extended for the only time in the history of the award, allowing Ronaldo to score a hat-trick on international duty against Sweden, that would have been fresh in the minds of voters and played a huge part in his victory. Ribery has been on record as still feeling aggrieved by losing that year’s edition of the award.
The Women’s Ballon d’Or has even sparked controversy in its short life span, with Megan Rapinoe’s win in 2019 seen as largely underserved by many. Whilst Rapinoe had captained the USA to a World Cup, and scored 6 times, three were penalties and another came in a 13-0 win against a Thailand side that are decades behind the USA in terms of the development of the women’s game.
Most saw her Ballon d’Or win as based on popularity and not stats, some speculating many voters were ignorant of the women’s game and picked the most recognisable name. In 2019, she played just six times for her club, amassing 422 minutes out of a possible 2,160. She also wasn’t involved in any goals.
