Football Facts: Players With Champions League, World Cup and Ballon d'Or

Football is the most popular sport in the world, as nearly every country participates in the sport. As a global sport, it can be extremely challenging to make it big in football, largely due to intense competition. And, if you are talking about winning the three biggest trophies in world football, it is a rare incident.

However, with some geniuses on the field, we have seen some remarkable football facts happening over the years. So, it gives us a chance to take a look at those players with great achievements and football facts. Today, we will take a look at those players who won the Champions League, FIFA World Cup and Ballon d'Or.

UFA Champions League

The Champions League is the biggest club tournament in Europe. Also, it is considered the best club football tournament in the world. The top clubs from the top-tier national leagues participate in this tournament.

The competition started in 1955, and since then, Real Madrid has been the most successful club in the tournament. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo is the most successful player in the Champions League with 134 goals in the tournament.

Read Also: Most Champions League Goals In History

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup is the biggest international tournament in the world. 32 qualified countries compete with each other for the biggest prize in international football. Brazil is the most successful team in the World Cup with 5 titles.

Meanwhile, Miroslav Klose is the top scorer in the Football World Cup with 16 goals to his name.

Ballon d'Or

Ballon d'Or is the biggest individual prize in football. The award is given to the best player in the world for a single season. The award has been given to the players since 1956 and is the most prestigious individual award in football history.

However, from 2011-2015, the award was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year. Lionel Messi has won the most Ballon d'Or awards (8) than any other player in football history.

Football Facts: Players with Champions League, FIFA World Cup and Ballon d'Or

As you already got the idea of how big these three trophies are in the football world, you can imagine how tough it can be to win all of them in a career.

There are only 9 players who have won Champions League, FIFA World Cup and Ballon d'Or in their career. Let's find them out in this special football facts segment.

#1 Sir Bobby Charlton

The England legend was the first player to achieve the feat of winning all the big trophies in football.

Booby Charlton spent 17 years at Manchester United when the club became one of the biggest football clubs in England. Charlton scored 115 goals in his club career before retiring in 1979.

Sir Bobby Charlton won the FIFA World Cup in 1966 and was adjudged the best player in the world, too.

He won the 1966 Ballon d'Or award. Charlton had scored 3 goals in that World Cup and had some major contributions to the team. He went on to win the European Cup/Champions League with Manchester United in 1968.

Read Also: Every Manchester United record that may never be broken

#2 Franz Beckenbauer

Nicknamed as the "Der Kiser (The Emperor)", Beckenbauer is the second player on our list of these special football facts.

The German was a defender known for his leadership skills and elegant football. The Bayern Munich legend won the Ballon d'Or award twice in 1972 and 1976.

Read Also: Defenders who won Ballon d'Or award

Beckenbauer also managed to win three Champions League titles, which was called the European Champions' Cup. He won it with Bayern Munich in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

But the major success in his career came in 1974 when he won the FIFA World Cup. That was West Germany's second FIFA World Cup title.

Read Also: Most Champions League titles won by Football Clubs

#3 Gerd Müller

Gerd Müller is regarded as one of the greatest football players in the history of the game. He has the most goals per match ratio (0.95) in the Champions League history.

The centre forward from Germany won 1 Ballon d'Or, 3 Champions League and 1 FIFA World Cup. Actually, it was his 15 years at Bayern Munich that made him the legend that he is.

Müller was a teammate of Beckenbauer, who won the 1974 FIFA World Cup. In fact, along with Beckenbauer, he played a major role in Bayern Munich winning the Champions League in three consecutive years in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

However, Müller won the Ballon d'Or only once in the year 1970.

#4 Paolo Rossi

The centre forward from Italy won it all when it comes to football. With 133 goals in his club career, he was one of the best of his time. The 1980s were a successful decade for him.

Rossi won the FIFA World Cup in 1982, and that made him earn the Ballon d'Or award as well. He was the top scorer of the 1982 FIFA World Cup with 6 goals.

Then the Italian legend went on to win the 1984/85 Champions League with Juventus FC. However, Rossi had nearly 11 transfers in his club career, which is quite astonishing as well.

Read Also: 21 goals? Who has scored the most goals in an official football match?

#5 Zinedine Zidane

The France international might be the most influential player in his country's recent football history. Zidane was known for his style of play, skills and control on the ball and goal-scoring ability.

The Juventus and Real Madrid legend managed to win the 1998 FIFA World Cup and then went on to win the 1998 Ballon d'Or as well.

Zidane won the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid. It was also the only Champions League he won in his career. However, the 2006 FIFA World Cup incident ended his international career infamously.

Read Also: Football Facts: Son-Father Football Pair Who Played For Same Club

#6 Rivaldo

Rivaldo, the former Brazilian captain, had everything that a captain should have. Moreover, when you are representing the rich football history of Brazilian football, either you soak the pressure or you rise above it.

The Brazilian forward has 35 international goals in his career. Also, he has scored 233 goals in his club career as well. Rivaldo won the 1999 Ballon d'Or following Zidane's success in 1998.

Rivaldo won the FIFA World Cup in 2002 as a captain in Japan. Then, he went on to win the UEFA Champions League in the 2002-03 season with AC Milan as well, and this is how Rivaldo became the 6th player on our football facts list.

Read Also: Top 10: Most Free-kick Goals In Football History

#7 Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho is probably the most skilful player of this generation. If it were not for his lifestyle, he might have been the best to play the game. With his vision and dribbling skills, he was loved by everyone in the football world.

With 197 goals, Ronaldinho is one of the most successful midfielders of the last 20 years. His bonding with Kaka and his contribution to Messi's early career is still a beautiful football story.

Ronaldinho won the 2002 FIFA World Cup along with Rivaldo and Kaka. Then he went on to win the Ballon d'Or in 2005 and the UEFA Champions League in the 2005/06 season with Barcelona.

Read Also: Top 10 highest scoring midfielders in the 21st century: Football facts

#8 Kaka

It is not astonishing to see that the most recent players to win the Champions League, World Cup, and Ballon d'Or are from Brazil. This is how good the Brazil team was at that time.

Along with Rivaldo and Rolandinho, Kaka won the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Then, while playing for AC Milan, he won everything in football. In 2007, he won the UEFA Champions League with AC Milan, and then he went on to win the Ballon d'Or also in the same year.

In addition to that, Kaka became the highest-paid footballer in the world after AC Milan extended their contract for nearly $12 million.

9. Lionel Messi 

Probably the greatest player in football history and the most successful one ever, with 46 trophies, Lionel Messi was the ninth player to achieve the feat of winning the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League and Ballon d'Or.

Messi, the Argentine genius, won the Ballon d'Or award a record 8 times in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023. 

Read Also: 11 players who have won the most trophies in football history

While playing for FC Barcelona, Messi won the UEFA Champions League four times in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015. And then he went on to complete the circle with the triumph in the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

10. Ousmane Dembele 

France and PSG right winger Ousmane Dembele became the 10th player in the history of football to achieve the feat of winning the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League and Ballon d'Or.

28-year-old Dembele, who had already won the 2018 FIFA World Cup with France, helped Paris St. Germain (PSG) win their first-ever UEFA Champions League title in 2025. 

His incredible league stats and success with PSG in the Champions League also helped him bag the 2025 Ballon d'Or award as well.

Note: The article was first written in 2021 by Koushik Biswas and then got updated by Barnali Debnath on 23 September 2025.