Ballon d’Or is the prize that any professional footballer eyes for as an individual trophy. The best player from any season gets voted by journalists, national team captains, and coaches. The voting for the Ballon D’or is quite a simple one. The voter votes for first place, second and third place. Votes for first place fetches five points while second place carries three points and third place gets one point. So, as we now know the Ballon d’Or points structure, let’s look at the players with the most Ballon d’Or points in football history.
Players with most Ballon d’Or Points
Youtuber StatsTube has accumulated the Ballon d’Or points since its inception in 1956. With 3601 Points, Cristiano Ronaldo is the player with the most Ballon d’Or points. Below are the players with the most Ballon d’Or points.
#5 Virgil van Dijk – 679 Points
The Dutch defender was runner up in the 2019 Ballon d’Or race to Lionel Messi. considered as one of the most complete centre-backs in the world right now, Van Dijk was one of the very rare defenders to finish on the Ballon d’Or podium. The Liverpool star has been dominating world football since joining the Reds back in 2018 with then a record fee of £75 million for a defender. The Dutch captain is still the only defender to win the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year in 2019. Virgil van Dijk with 679 Ballon d’Or points is fifth on the list and will surely add many more points to the list. Interestingly he is the only defender to feature on this list.
Read Also: Defenders who won Ballon d’Or award
#4 Zinedine Zidane – 715 Points
Considered one of the greats of the game, Zinedine Zidane is one of the eight players to win Ballon d’Or, UEFA Champions League and the World Cup all in his career. The former French attacking midfielder had his share of success with Juventus and Real Madrid. He made 151 appearances for Juventus and 155 for Real Madrid. With Juventus, he went on to win the 1998 Ballon d’Or. Wining the 1998 FIFA World Cup helped him in that cause too. The 2002 Champions League Winner was bought by Real Madrid with a then world-record transfer fee of €77.5 million in 2001. With 715 Ballon d’Or points, Zizou is at number four on the list.
Read Also: Football Facts: Players With Champions League, World Cup and Ballon d’Or
#3 Luka Modric – 837 Points
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Luka Modric is the only player to win the Ballon D’or since 2008 other than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. An exceptional mid-fielder plays at the heart of the mid-filed. Known for his play-making abilities and control, the Croatian captain is still one of the best in the world in his position. In 2018, after winning the Champions League for the fourth time with Real Madrid, he was awarded the Ballon d’Or with 753 Ballon d’Or points. Modric was one of the key players for Real Madrid in their UCL hat-trick in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Read Also: Players with the most champions league titles
#2 Lionel Messi – 2961 points
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner might be on his way to grab his number seventh in December later this year. Since 2007, it was the only time in 2018 when Lionel Messi was not been able to get any of the top three places in the Ballon d’Or race. The leading Ballon d’Or winner has won the award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019. Lionel Messi is the only player to make a hat-trick of Ballon d’Or award in 2011. Later he extended his record to a consecutive fourth one in 2015 with Barcelona.
Read Also: Most Ballon d’Or wins by Clubs
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo – 3601 Points
Where there is Messi, there must be a Ronaldo. With only one Ballon d’Or behind Messi, Ronaldo was now five of that golden prize. The Portuguese captain was far behind in the all-time Ballon d’Or race till 2012 from Messi. However, a flurry of Champions League Tiles and goals earned him two consecutive Ballon d’Or wards in 2013, 2014 and 2016, 2017 took him close to the Argentine. Ronaldo’s 2017 Ballon d’Or points was a staggering 946 which is still a record. Till now in his 12 appearances in the top three of the Ballon d’Or race, Ronaldo has the most number of Ballon d’Or points.
Read Also: Most Premier League Player Of The Month Award Winner
