Ballon d'Or Records & List Of Winners Till Date

Some interesting facts about the Ballon d'Or - one of the awards greatest awards.

-It was conceived by sports writer Gabriel Hanot in 1956. Stanley Matthews of Blackpool was the inaugural winner of the Ballon d'Or.

-AC Milan's George Weah, the only African recipient, became the first non-European to win the award in the year the rules of eligibility were changed (1995).

-Ronaldo of Internazionale became the first South American winner two years later.

-Three players have won the award three times each: Johan Cruyff of Ajax and Barcelona, Michel Platini of Juventus and Marco van Basten of Milan.

-Italian clubs Juventus and Milan had the most winners respectively; six players won eight awards while playing for each club.

Here's a complete list of previous winners of the Ballon d'Or award with the format; Year of winning, the name of the player and his club.

1956- Stanley Matthews (Blackpool)

1957- Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)

1958- Raymond Kopa (Real Madrid)

1959- Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)

1960- Luis Suarez (Barcelona)

1961- Omar Sivori (Juventus)

1962- Josef Masopust (Dukla Prague)

1963- Lev Yashin (Dynamo Moscow)

1964- Denis Law (Manchester United)

1965- Eusebio (Benfica)

1966- Bobby Charlton (Manchester United)

1967- Florian Albert (Ferencvaros)

1968- George Best (Manchester United)

1969- Gianni Rivera (AC Milan)

1970- Gerd Muller (Bayern Munich)

1971- Johan Cruyff (Ajax)

1972- Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)

1973- Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)

1974- Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)

1975- Oleg Blokhin (Dynamo Kyiv)

1976- Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)

1977- Allan Simonsen (Borussia Monchengladbach)

1978- Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)

1979- Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)

1980- Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)

1981- Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)

1982- Paolo Rossi (Juventus)

1983- Michel Platini (Juventus)

1984- Michel Platini (Juventus)

1985- Michel Platini (Juventus)

1986- Igor Belanov (Dynamo Kyiv)

1987- Ruud Gullit (AC Milan)

1988- Marco van Basten (AC Milan)

1989- Marco van Basten (AC Milan)

1990- Lothar Matthaus (Internazionale)

1991- Jean-Pierre Papin (Marseille)

1992- Marco van Basten (AC Milan)

1993- Roberto Baggio (Juventus)

1994- Hristo Stoichkov (Barcelona)

1995- George Weah (AC Milan)

1996- Matthias Sammer (Borussia Dortmund)

1997- Ronaldo (Internazionale)

1998- Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)

1999- Rivaldo (Barcelona)

2000- Luis Figo (Real Madrid)

2001- Michael Owen (Liverpool)

2002- Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

2003- Pavel Nedved (Juventus)

2004- Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan)

2005- Ronaldinho (Barcelona)

2006- Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid)

2007- Kaka (AC Milan)

2008- Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

2009- Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

2010- Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

2011- Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

2012- Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

2013- Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

2014- Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

2015- Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

2016- TONIGHT (TONIGHT)

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