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.

Ballon d'Or Winners - Ballon dOr - Sportz Point — Ballon d'Or Winners. Photo- Reddit

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

Tag: Soviet Union

Ballon d'Or Winners by Country