Who is the youngest ever Ballon d'Or winner? | OneFootball

Who is the youngest Ballon d’Or winner of all time? Find out everything you need to know below.

The Ballon d’Or 2022 winner has finally been announced and it’s no other than Real Madrid and France superstar – Karim Benzema. The clinical striker wins the award for the first time in his illustrious career, after enduring the best season of his life, scoring goals for fun and picking up the La Liga and Champions League trophies at club level.

Along with this, he did it at the age of 34 – which makes him the oldest-ever Ballon d’Or winner. He really is ageing like a fine wine.

So with Benzema taking the accolade as the oldest Ballon d'Or winner ever, who is the youngest? Here we have all the information you need to know.

Which player won the Ballon d'Or at the youngest age?

The youngest-ever Ballon d'Or winner is Ronaldo Nazario, who scooped up the award at just 21 years, five months and three days old.

He obtained his first award in 1997, where he was the vocal point of a ludicrous Inter Milan side. During this year, Inter Milan broke the world record fee to sign Ronaldo, making him the first player since Diego Maradona to break the world transfer record twice.

By the age of 23, Ronaldo had scored over 200 goals for club and country - which earned him a move to the Galactico's of Real Madrid, where he picked up his second and final Ballon d'Or award in 2002.

Il Fenomeno's playing career was sadly plagued by a series of injuries, so was bitterly cut short. It's staggering to think of the heights he could have achieved, but his legacy still lives on and he'll be widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time.

Who are the other youngest-ever Ballon d'Or winners?

Here are four more Ballon d'Or winners that managed to obtain the prestigious award at a young age.