Ballon d’Or winners: Who won the most trophies? Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and other all-time award recipients

The Ballon d’Or award is considered the most prestigious individual award in football, synonymous with the title of best player in the world.

The list of previous winners is a veritable honor roll of superstars past and present. Winning a Ballon d’Or trophy is considered the apex of individual success over the course of any footballer’s career.

But to win multiple editions of the iconic Golden Ball is the stuff of legends. In fact, there are only 10 players who have ever done it and their names are ones any football fan would recognize.

The Sporting News looks back at these previous honorees — and it’s clear how high the bar is for what players must achieve to get their hands on the Ballon d’Or. It is an exclusive club.

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Who has won the most Ballon d’Or awards?

The player with the most Ballon d’Or awards of all-time is Lionel Messi who has won it eight times. Behind him is Messi’s long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo with five Ballons d’Or.

Only 10 players all-time have claimed multiple Ballon d’Or awards. There have been 37 other players who have claimed the Ballon d’Or once in their career.

MORE: How the Ballon d’Or winner is decided

Ballon d’Or winners by year

Men’s Ballon d’Or winners

The first Ballon d’Or was awarded in 1956 to Blackpool legend Stanley Matthews, one of the greats of the English game.

Dutch giant Johan Cruyff became the first player to win it three times in the 1970s. French star Michel Platini won it three times in a row — the first to achieve that feat — in the 80’s.

Messi won the 2021 Ballon d’Or, beating out Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho by a narrow margin for his seventh trophy. He finished ahead of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe two years later.

Messi, Ronaldo and Luka Modric were the only three active players to have won a Ballon d’Or since 2008 before being joined by Karim Benzema in 2022.

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Women’s Ballon d’Or

The Ballon d’Or Feminin has been awarded since 2018 with the 2020 event cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ada Hegerberg was the inaugural winner, followed by USWNT great Megan Rapinoe. Barcelona have dominated since, Alexia Putellas winning in 2021 and 2022, and Aitana Bonmati claiming three in a row.