Ballon d'Or Winners by Country

The Ballon d'Or is the most decorated and prestigious individual award that every player wants to get their hands on.

The Ballon d'Or is football's oldest personal accolade, which was established in 1956. During its inaugural years, it was only given to European players. So other football legends were unable to get their hands on it. But now after 1995, the Ballon d'Or has been expanded to include all players from any origin and country that have been active at European clubs. Stanley Mathews of England was the first winner of this award in 1956 and George Weah was the first African to receive the award. Followed by, Lev Yashin was the first and the only goalkeeper in history to win the Ballon d'Or. The award was given every year from 1956 but many deserving winners missed it out on the year 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

So let us find out the Ballon d'Or winners by Country

#1. Germany (7 Times)

Gerd Müller - 1970

Franz Beckenbauer - 1972 and 1976

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge - 1980 and 1981

Lothar Matthäus - 1990

Matthias Sammer - 1996

#2. Netherlands (7 Times)

Johan Cruyff - 1971, 1973, 1974

Marco van Basten - 1988, 1989, 1992

Ruud Gullit - 1987

#3. Portugal (7 Times)

Cristiano Ronaldo - 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017

Eusébio da Silva Ferreira - 1965

Luis Figo - 2000

#4. France (6 Times)

Raymond Kopa - 1958

Michel Platini - 1983, 1984, 1985

Jean-Pierre Papin - 1991

Zinedine Zidane - 1998

#5. Argentina (6 Times)

Lionel Messi - 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019

#6. Italy (5 Times)

Omar Sivori - 1961

Gianni Rivera - 1969

Paolo Rossi - 1982

Roberto Baggio - 1982

Fabio Cannavaro - 2006

#7. Brazil (5 Times)

Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima - 1997, 2002

Rivaldo - 1999

Ronaldinho - 2005

Kaka - 2007

#8. England (5 Times)

Stanley Matthews - 1956

Bobby Charlton - 1966

Kevin Keegan - 1978, 1979

Michael Owen - 2001

#9. Soviet Union (3 Times)

Lev Yashin - 1963

Oleg Blokhin - 1975

Igor Belanov - 1986

#10. Spain (3 Times)

Luis Suarez - 1960

Alfredo Di Stéfano - 1957, 1959