Ballon d'Or winners: Who won the most? Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and others
The Ballon d'Or award is considered the most prestigious individual award in football, synonymous with the title of best player in the world.
The list of previous winners is a veritable honor roll of superstars past and present. Winning a Ballon d'Or trophy is considered the apex of individual success over the course of any player's career.
But to win multiple editions of the Golden Ball is the stuff of legends. In fact, there are only 10 players who have ever done it and their names are ones any football fan would recognize.
A look back at these previous honorees makes clear the high bar that players need to achieve in order to get their hands on the Ballon d'Or. It is an exclusive club.
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The player with the most Ballon d'Or awards of all-time is Lionel Messi who has won it seven times. Behind him is Messi's long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo with five Ballons d'Or.
Only 10 players all-time have claimed multiple Ballon d'Or awards. There have been 34 other players who have claimed the Ballon d'Or once in their career.
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The first Ballon d'Or was awarded in 1956 to Blackpool legend Stanley Matthews, one of the greats of the English game.
Dutch giant Johan Cruyff became the first player to win it three times in the 1970s. French star Michel Platini won it three times in a row — the first to achieve that feat — in the 80's.
Messi won the 2021 Ballon d'Or, beating out Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho by a narrow margin for his seventh trophy.
Messi and Ronaldo have won 12 of the last 13 Ballon d'Or awards, with only Luka Modric capable of stopping that run in 2018. Those were
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