Top 3 Rankings of every Ballon d’Or since 1956

The Ballon d’Or is one of the prestigious awards that is given to a footballer based on their performance throughout the football season. Every footballer dreams of winning the award at least once in their football career. Well, some players have won the award once in their football career, and some have won it several times. But there are some who have missed the prestigious award by a few points. So let’s take a look at the Top 3 rankings of every Ballon d’Or since 1956.

Top 3 rankings of every Ballon d’Or since 1956

From 1956 to 1960

1956

1. Stanley Matthews
2. Alfredo Di Stefano
3. Raymond Kopa

1957

1. Alfredo Di Stefano
2. Billy Wright
3. Duncan Edward and Raymond Kopa

1958

1. Raymond Kopa
2. Helmut Rahn
3. Just Fontaine

1959

1. Alfredo Di Stefano
2. Raymond Kopa
3. John Charles

1960

1. Luis Suarez
2. Ferenc Puskas
3. Uwe Seeler

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From 1961 to 1970

1961

1. Omar Sivori
2. Luis Suarez
3. Johnny Haynes

1962

1. Josef Masopust
2. Eusebio
3. Karl Heinz Schnellinger

1963

1. Lev Yashin
2. Gianni Rivera
3. Jimmy Greaves

1964

1. Denis Law
2. Luis Suarez
3. Amancio

1965

1. Eusebio
2. Giacinto Facchetti
3. Luis Suarez

1966

1. Bobby Charlton
2. Eusebio
3. Franz Beckenbauer

1967

1. Florian Albert
2. Bobby Charlton
3. Jimmy Johnstone

1968

1. George Best
2. Bobby Charlton
3. Dragan Dzajic

1969

1. Gianni Rivera
2. Gigi Riva
3. Gerd Muller

1970

1. Gerd Muller
2. Bobby Moore
3. Gigi Riva

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From 1971 to 1980

1971

1. Johan Cruyff
2. Sandro Mazzola
3. George Best

1972

1. Franz Beckenbauer
2. Gerd Muller
3. Gunter Netzer

1973

1. Johan Cruyff
2. Dino Zoff
3. Gerd Miller

1974

1. Johan Cruyff
2. Franz Beckenbauer
3. Kazimierz Deyna

1975

1. Oleg Blokhin
2. Franz Beckenbauer
3. Johan Cruyff

1976

1. Franz Beckenbauer
2. Rob Rensenbrink
3. Ivo Viktor

1977

1. Allan Simonsen
2. Kevin Keegan
3. Michel Platini

1978

1. Kevin Keegan
2. Hans Krankl
3. Rob Rensenbrink

1979

1. Kevin Keegan
2. Karl Heinz Rummenigge
3. Ruud Krol

1980

1. Karl Heinz Rummenigge
2. Bernd Schuster
3. Michel Platini

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From 1981 to 1990

1981

1. Karl Heinz Rummenigge
2. Paul Breitner
3. Bernd Schuster

1982

1. Paolo Rossi
2. Alain Giresse
3. Zbigniew Boniek

1983

1. Michel Platini
2. Kenny Dalglish
3. Allan Simonsen

1984

1. Michel Platini
2. Jean Tigana
3. Preben Elkjaer

1985

1. Michel Platini
2. Preben Elkjaer
3. Bernd Schuster

1986

1. Igor Belanov
2. Gary Lineker
3. Emilio Butragueno

1987

1. Ruud Gullit
2. Paulo Futre
3. Emilio Butragueno

1988

1. Marco Van Basten
2. Ruud Gullit
3. Frank Rijkaard

1989

1. Marco Vab Basten
2. Franco Baresi
3. Frank Rijkaard

1990

1. Lothar Matthaus
2. Salvatore Schillaci
3. Andreas Brehme

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From 1991 to 2000

1991

1. Jean Pierre Papin
2. Dejan Savicevic, Darko Pancev, and Lothar Matthaus

1992

1. Marco Van Basten
2. Hristo Stoichkov
3. Dennis Bergkamp

1993

1. Roberto Baggio
2. Dennis Bergkamp
3. Eric Cantona

1994

1. Hristo Stoichkov
2. Roberto Baggio
3. Paolo Maldini

1995

1. George Waeh
2. Jurgen Klinsmann
3. Jari Litmanen

1996

1. Matthias Sammer
2. Ronaldo
3. Alan Shearer

1997

1. Ronaldo
2. Predrag Mijatovic
3. Zinedine Zidane

1998

1. Zinedine Zidane
2. Davor Suker
3. Ronaldo

1999

1. Rivaldo
2. David Beckham
3. Andriy Shevchenko

2000

1. Luis Figo
2. Zinedine Zidane
3. Andriy Shevchenko

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From 2001 to 2010

2001

1. Michael Owen
2. Raul
3. Oliver Kahn

2002

1. Ronaldo
2. Roberto Carlos
3. Oliver Kahn

2003

1. Pavel Nedved
2. Thierry Henry
3. Paolo Maldini

2004

1. Andriy Shevchenko
2. Deco
3. Ronaldinho

2005

1. Ronaldinho
2. Frank Lampard
3. Steven Gerrard

2006

1. Fabio Cannavaro
2. Gianluigi Buffon
3. Thierry Henry

2007

1. Kaka
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Lionel Messi

2008

1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Lionel Messi
3. Fernando Torres

2009

1. Lionel Messi
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Xavi

2010

1. Lionel Messi
2. Andres Iniesta
3. Xavi

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From 2011 to present

2011

1. Lionel Messi
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Xavi

2012

1. Lionel Messi
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Andres Iniesta

2013

1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Lionel Messi
3. Franck Ribery

2014

1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Lionel Messi
3. Neymar

2015

1. Lionel Messi
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Neymar

2016

1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Lionel Messi
3. Antoine Griezmann

2017

1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Lionel Messi
3. Neymar

2018

1. Luka Modric
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Antoine Griezmann

2019

1. Lionel Messi
2. Virgil Van Dijk
3. Cristiano Ronaldo

2020

No award was given due to pandemic

2021

1. Lionel Messi
2. Roberto Lewandowski
3. Jorginho

2022

1. Karim Benzema
2. Sadio Mane
3. Kevin De Bruyne

2023

1. Lionel Messi
2. Erling Haaland
3. Kylian Mbappe

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