Clubs with most Ballon d’Or award wins: Do Real Madrid or Barcelona have more? | OneFootball

Karim Benzema is the latest player to win a Ballon d’Or while playing for Real Madrid, but which clubs have the most Ballon d’Or award wins in football history?

The prestigious individual accolade, awarded to the best footballer in each calendar year, was established by French news magazine France Football back in 1956.

The Ballon d’Or has since been won by many of the greatest players in football history, including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Johan Cruyff, Ronaldo Nazario and Zinedine Zidane.

Which clubs have the most Ballon d'Or award wins?

Let’s take a closer look at which clubs boast the most Ballon d’Or winners.

10= Marseille (Wins: 1)

Jean-Pierre Papin (France – 1991)

Jean-Pierre Papin was the clear winner in 1991 after winning Ligue 1 with Marseille and reaching the European Cup final.

10= Liverpool (Wins: 1)

Michael Owen (England – 2001)

Liverpool’s only Ballon d’Or winner so far was England’s Michael Owen in 2001.

10= Ferencvaros (Wins: 1)

Florian Albert (Hungary – 1967)

Ferencvaros’s Florian Albert fended off competition from Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Johnstone to win the 1967 Ballon d’Or.

10= Dynamo Moscow (Wins: 1)

Lev Yashin (Soviet Union – 1963)

Arguably the most legendary goalkeeper of all time, Lev Yashin won the Ballon d’Or with Dynamo Moscow in 1963.

10= Dukla Prague (Wins: 1)

Josef Masopust (Czech Republic – 1962)

Czech side Dukla Prague were dissolved in 1996, while midfielder Josef Masopust passed away in 2015.

10= Borussia Mönchengladbach (Wins: 1)

Allan Simonsen (Denmark – 1977)

Allan Simonsen helped Borussia Mönchengladbach win the Bundesliga and reach the final of the European Cup in 1977.

10= Borussia Dortmund (Wins: 1)

Matthias Sammer (Germany – 1996)

Matthias Sammer beat Ronaldo Nazario and Alan Shearer to the Ballon d’Or after winning Euro 1996 with Germany.

10= Blackpool (Wins: 1)

Stanley Matthews (England – 1956)

Winner of the inaugural Ballon d’Or in ’56, Stanley Matthews is one of four English players to win the award.

10= Benfica (Wins: 1)

Eusebio (Portugal – 1965)

One of the greatest players of the 1960s, Eusebio scored 48 goals in 36 games during the 1964-65 campaign at Benfica.

10= Paris Saint-Germain (Wins: 1)

Lionel Messi (Argentina - 2021)

Messi became the first footballer to win a Ballon d’Or while playing for PSG in 2021.

10= Ajax (Wins: 1)

Johan Cruyff (Netherlands – 1971)

Some record books have Ajax on two because Johan Cruyff won his second Ballon d’Or in 1973 - the year he left the Dutch club for Barcelona.

9= Hamburg (Wins: 2)

Kevin Keegan (England – 1978, 1979)

Winning back-to-back Ballon d’Or awards is no mean feat but Kevin Keegan achieved this with Hamburg in 1978 and 1979.

9= Inter Milan (Wins 2)

Lothar Matthaus (Germany – 1990)

Ronaldo (Brazil – 1997)

Inter claimed their first Ballon d’Or in 1990 after Lothar Matthaus won the 1990 World Cup with West Germany.

Seven years later, the magnificent Ronaldo added a second Ballon d’Or to Inter’s collection.

9= Dynamo Kiev (Wins: 2)

Oleg Blokhin (Soviet Union – 1975)

Igor Belanov (Soviet Union – 1986)

Dynamo Kiev were a stronger forced in the 1970s and 80s, winning the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1975 and 1986 - the same years Oleg Blokhin and Igor Belanov won their Ballon d’Or awards, respectively.

6. Manchester United (Wins: 4)

Denis Law (Scotland – 1964)

Bobby Charlton (England – 1966)

George Best (Northern Ireland – 1968)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal – 2008)

Manchester United’s Holy Trinity of Denis Law, Bobby Charlton and George Best all won the Ballon d’Or within a four-year period in the 1960s.

Cristiano Ronaldo then added a fourth Ballon d’Or for the Red Devils in 2008, cementing his status as arguably the world’s best player at the time in the process.

5. Bayern Munich (Wins: 5)

Gerd Muller (Germany – 1970)

Franz Beckenbauer (Germany – 1972, 1976)

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Germany – 1980, 1981)

One of European football’s most decorated clubs, three Germans have won a combined five Ballon d’Or awards while playing for Bayern Munich.

Robert Lewandowski should have added a sixth in 2020 but that year’s Ballon d’Or was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

3= AC Milan (Wins: 8)

Gianni Rivera (Italy – 1969)

Ruud Gullit (Netherlands – 1987)

Marco van Basten (Netherlands – 1988, 1989, 1992)

George Weah (Liberia – 1995)

Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine – 2004)

Kaka (Brazil – 2007)

Sitting in joint-third place with an impressive eight Ballon d’Or awards, six players have won the award while playing for AC Milan.

The legendary Marco van Basten is one of only five players to have won the Ballon d’Or three times or more.

3= Juventus (Wins: 8)

Omar Sívori (Italy – 1961)

Paolo Rossi (Italy – 1982)

Michel Platini (France – 1983, 1984, 1985)

Roberto Baggio (Italy – 1993)

Zinedine Zidane (France – 1998)

Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic – 2003)

Like Van Basten, Michel Platini won three Ballons d’Or during his illustrious playing career. Impressively, the Frenchman won his in three successive years in the 1980s.

Zinedine Zidane also won his one and only Ballon d’Or while playing for Juventus, but that was largely for his heroics at international level with France during the 1998 World Cup.

1= Barcelona (Wins: 12)

Luis Suárez (Spain – 1960)

Johan Cruyff (Netherlands – 1973, 1974)

Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria – 1994)

Rivaldo (Brazil – 1999)

Ronaldinho (Brazil – 2005)

Lionel Messi (Argentina – 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019)

Barcelona boasted six Ballon d’Or awards before Messi burst onto the scene. By 2019, that tally had risen to 12 thanks to the legendary Argentine forward.

1= Real Madrid (Wins: 12)

Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain – 1957, 1959)

Raymond Kopa (France – 1958)

Luis Figo (Portugal – 2000)

Ronaldo (Brazil – 2002)

Fabio Cannavaro (Italy – 2006)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal – 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)

Luka Modric (Croatia – 2018)

Karim Benzema (France - 2022)

Real Madrid are now level with Barcelona after Benzema added another Ballon d’Or to the Bernabeu’s trophy cabinet.

Cristiano Ronaldo boosted Los Blancos’ tally during the 2010s, winning four Ballons d’Or during his incredible nine-year spell with the Spanish giants.

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