FIFA Ballon d'Or

This article is about the men's award. For the women's award, see FIFA World Player of the Year. For the former European Footballer of the Year award, see Ballon d'Or (1956–2009).
Sepp Blatter holds up the agreement creating the FIFA Ballon d'Or in Johannesburg in July 2010

The FIFA Ballon d'Or (French pronunciation: ​[balɔ̃ dɔʁ], "Golden Ball") is an annual association football award given by FIFA to the male player considered to have performed the best in the previous calendar year. It is awarded based on the votes from national team coaches and captains, as well as journalists from around the world.

The award started in 2010 after France Football's Ballon d'Or and the men's FIFA World Player of the Year award were merged. The winner of the inaugural 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or was Lionel Messi who then went on to reclaim the title the following two years. After the merger, the FIFA World Player of the Year award became a women-only award.

The award has been dominated by Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as part of their ongoing rivalry. As of 2014, Ronaldo is the most recent recipient of the FIFA Ballon d'Or, after beating Messi and Manuel Neuer to the award.[1]

Winners

Lionel Messi won the first three FIFA Ballons d'Or.
Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2013 and 2014.
Until 2010, the best player in the world won the Ballon d'Or or the FIFA World Player of the Year award
Year 1st 2nd 3rd
2010 Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Spain Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) Spain Xavi (Barcelona)
2011 Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Spain Xavi (Barcelona)
2012 Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Spain Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
2013 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) France Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich)
2014 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Germany Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)

Wins by player

Player First place Second place Third place
1 Argentina Lionel Messi 3 2 0
2 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo 2 2 0
3 Spain Andrés Iniesta 0 1 1
4 Spain Xavi 0 0 2
5 France Franck Ribéry 0 0 1
Germany Manuel Neuer 0 0 1

Wins by country

Country First place Second place Third place
1  Argentina 3 (2010, 2011, 2012) 2 (2013, 2014) 0
2  Portugal 2 (2013, 2014) 2 (2011, 2012) 0
3  Spain 0 1 (2010) 3 (2010, 2011, 2012)
4  France 0 0 1 (2013)
 Germany 0 0 1 (2014)

Wins by club

Club First place Second place Third place
1 Spain Barcelona 3 (2010, 2011, 2012) 3 (2010, 2013, 2014) 3 (2010, 2011, 2012)
2 Spain Real Madrid 2 (2013, 2014) 2 (2011, 2012) 0
3 Germany Bayern Munich 0 0 2 (2013, 2014)

Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur

In 2014, Pelé was given an honorary Ballon d'Or, having won three FIFA World Cups with Brazil but never an individual award from FIFA, as during his playing career only European-based players were eligible to win the original Ballon d'Or.[2]

See also

References

Media related to FIFA Ballon d'Or at Wikimedia Commons

  1. ↑ "Cristiano Ronaldo wins Ballon d’Or over Lionel Messi & Manuel Neuer". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 12 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Pele receives FIFA Ballon d’Or Prix d’Honneur". FIFA.com (Fédération Internationale de Football Association). 13 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.

External links