Ballon D’Or Winners since 1956 till 2018 [Infographic] | OneFootball

Ballon d’Or or Golden Ball, as some call it, is an illustrious award which is given every year to a professional footballer who has been voted as the best player for the past season. The accolade is given by the magazine France Football and a number of sports journalists from different parts of the world participate in voting. Each year, the footballer with the most points becomes the winner of the prestigious award.

According to super betting sites the first time the award was given was in 1956 to Sir Stanley Matthews. In the history of the award, there are a few players who have received the Golden Ball more than two times and only two footballers have won the Ballon d’Or title five times.

Three footballers were honored with the award three times, which was the record until 2012. The professional players who have been awarded the Golden Ball three times are Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, and Marco van Basten.

In 2012, the record was broken by Lionel Messi who became the first professional footballer who has received the prestigious accolade for the fourth time. This achievement came after his 2009, 2010 and 2011 Ballon d’Or awards. After being a runner-up in 2013 and 2014, Messi won the Golden Ball award for the fifth time, making him the first professional football player to receive the prestigious prize five times.

In addition to Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo has also broken the record for most Ballon d’Or awards. In 2017, he received his fifth Golden Ball which followed his 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2016 Golden Ball prizes. Currently, both Messi and Ronaldo hold the record for being the two footballers who have won the most Ballon d’Or awards. Below you can check the full Ballon D’or Winner List.