Argentina is the country with the most Ballon d’Or winners. Here you will find information about other Ballon d’Or Winners Country.
The Ballon d’Or is one of the most prestigious individual awards in world football, awarded annually by “France Football” since 1956. It is awarded to the best men’s footballers in the world based on their performance in the previous season.
Initially, the award was only eligible for European players from 1956 to 1994, however, it was extended to include players of any origin active in European clubs between 1995 and 2006.
Liberian George Weah also won the 1995 Ballon d’Or, the first – and to date only – African winner, while playing for Italian club AC Milan. who emerged as one of the greatest talents in world football then.
Although the 1965 winner Eusébio was also born in East Africa Mozambique, it was a colony of Portugal at that time. Since 2007 it has been eligible to be won by any player worldwide.
The award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year in a partnership from 2010 to 2015. Since its inception, the Ballon d’Or has been won by 20 different countries. Will a new nation win the Ballon d’Or 2024?
Argentina is the country that has won the Ballon d’Or the most 8 times. All 8 Ballon d’Ors of Argentina have been won by Lionel Messi alone.
But Argentina’s tally could be ten – as two-time winner Alfredo Di Stefano was born in Argentina and played for the Argentine national team before moving to Spain.
Stefano became a Spanish citizen in 1956 before winning the Ballon d’Or award for the first time.
Although Ukraine has 1 Ballon d’Or win, three Ukrainian players have won the Ballon d’Or: Andriy Shevchenko, Oleg Blokhin, and Igor Belanov, although Blokhin and Belanov were part of the Soviet Union at the time and counted under it, officially There will be only one Ukrainian winner.
2003 winner Pavel Nedved is the first and only Czech player to officially win the Ballon d’Or, although 1962 winner Josef Masopust was also born in Czechoslovakia, now part of the Czech Republic.
List of the Ballon d’Or Winners Country
| Country | Wins | Player(s) | Year’s |
| Argentina | 8 | Lionel Messi | 8 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023) |
| Portugal | 7 | Cristiano Ronaldo, Eusébio, Luís Figo | 5 (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017), 1 (1965), 1 (2000) |
| France | 7 | Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, Raymond Kopa, Jean-Pierre Papin, Karim Benzema | 3 (1983, 1984, 1985), 1 (1998), 1 (1958), 1 (1991), 1 (2022) |
| Netherlands | 7 | Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit | 3 (1971, 1973, 1974), 3 (1988, 1989, 1992), 1 (1987) |
| Germany | 7 | Franz Beckenbauer, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Gerd Müller, Lothar Matthäus, Matthias Sammer | 2 (1972, 1976), 2 (1980, 1981), 1 (1970), 1 (1990), 1 (1996) |
| Brazil | 5 | Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Kaká | 2 (1997, 2002), 1 (2005), 1 (1999), 1 (2007) |
| Italy | 5 | Gianni Rivera, Roberto Baggio, Fabio Cannavaro, Omar Sivori, Paolo Rossi | 1 (1969), 1 (1993), 1 (2006), 1 (1961), 1 (1982) |
| England | 5 | Kevin Keegan, Bobby Charlton, Stanley Matthews, Michael Owen | 2 (1978, 1979), 1 (1966), 1 (1956), 1 (2001) |
| Spain | 3 | Alfredo Di Stéfano, Luis Suárez | 2 (1957, 1959), 1 (1960) |
| Soviet Union | 3 | Lev Yashin, Oleg Blokhin, Igor Belanov | 1 (1963), 1 (1975), 1 (1986) |
| Croatia | 1 | Luka Modrić | 1 (2018) |
| Ukraine | 1 | Andriy Shevchenko | 1 (2004) |
| Northern Ireland | 1 | George Best | 1 (1968) |
| Denmark | 1 | Allan Simonsen | 1 (1977) |
| Czechoslovakia | 1 | Josef Masopust | 1 (1962) |
| Czech Republic | 1 | Pavel Nedvěd | 1 (2003) |
| Scotland | 1 | Denis Law | 1 (1964) |
| Hungary | 1 | Flórián Albert | 1 (1967) |
| Bulgaria | 1 | Hristo Stoichkov | 1 (1994) |
| Liberia | 1 | George Weah | 1 (1995) |
