Pele never won the Ballon d’Or. The Brazilian football icon didn’t win the Ballon d’Or because he was not born in Europe and so was unable to be nominated for the award.
What Is The Ballon d’Or?
The Ballon d’Or is the most prestigious award for individuals in football. Contested between the sport’s elite players from across the globe – the accolade is an ultimate recognition of talent and greatness.
The honour was introduced by the governing body of French Football and awarded to the player judged to have produced the most exceptional performance in a calendar year. This was later adapted to reflect displays and achievement across a season instead.
When Did The Ballon d’Or begin?
The Ballon d’Or’s inaugural year was 1956. The trophy was handed to Englishman Stanley Matthews for his dazzling playmaking performances across the 1955/56 season in particular that saw Blackpool finish second in England’s top tier.
Meanwhile, a 15 years old Brazilian named Pele was far from setting the football world alight, having made just one appearance during a debut season for Santos and scoring a single goal.
Why Didn’t Pele Win The Ballon d’Or?
Pele didn’t win the Ballon d’Or due to a technicality. For the competition’s first 39 years – its rules stated that nominations for the prize were open only to players of European nationality.
This meant that football players from other continents became ineligible to win the award including those from the likes of South America or Asia for example.
When Did The First Non-European Player Win The Ballon d’Or?
In 1995, Liberia’s George Weah became the first non-European to win the Ballon d’Or, the very same year that rules of eligibility were changed, allowing players born outside of Europe to be nominated.
To date, Weah is the only African recipient of the accolade following his stunning 1995/96 campaign with AC Milan, helping the Serie A giants claim the Scudetto and Weah himself scoring a total of 15 goals.
Which Non-European Players Have Won The Ballon d’Or?
There have only been six non-European winners of the Ballon d’Or across the nearly three decades since its rule change that permitted players from outside Europe to compete.
Besides the aforementioned Weah, South American players have dominated proceedings in terms of non-European Ballon d’Or winners.
In 1997, Brazilian Ronaldo became the first South American Ballon d’Or winner just two years after Weah’s success and again in 2002 following his stunning World Cup display.
Other non-European Ballon d’Or winners include Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka.
Yet the most noteworthy of non-European Ballon d’Or winners is undoubtedly Lionel Messi with the Argentine having won the award a record seven times from 2008 to 2021.
How Many Ballon d’Or Should Pele Have Won?
In 2016, France Football released a ‘remake’ of the Ballon d’Or award which reimagined the competition’s results from 1956 to 1994 to include non-European players.
Remarkably, if not totally unexpected, Pele became a seven-time winner of the Ballon d’Or.
He ‘won’ four awards back to back from 1958 to 1961. During that period, the young Brazilian had started to score regularly for Santos, already claiming his first major international honour at the age of 17. Brazil won the 1958 World Cup and Pele scored six times during the tournament.
Under the re-imagining he won the Ballon d’Or on three more occasions including 1963 and 1964 whilst also recognised for his contribution to Brazil’s 1970 World Cup triumph.
Which Soccer Legends Should Have Won The Ballon d’Or?
As part of the Ballon d’Or re-imagining process, five more South American players would likely have been named best on the planet.
Brazilian superstar Garrincha topped the list in 1962 following his epic display at the World Cup in Chile whilst Pele was unable to play the majority of the tournament through serious injury.
Other ‘winners’ include Mario Kempes for his role in Argentina’s 1978 World Cup victory as he finished the competition’s top scorer. Maradona claimed the prize in 1986 for his majestic winning performance at that year’s World Cup and again in 1990.
Romario made for a worthy Ballon d’Or winner in 1994 following his best club season, scoring 32 goals as Barcelona won their 14th La Liga title.
Conclusion
Pele was never destined to win the Ballon d’Or in his lifetime. It was of course through no fault of his own, although if he had been eligible for the award then the Brazilian would likely have ended up as the most decorated Ballon d’Or winner ever – eclipsing both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the process!
