Top 15 Most ballon d'or winners in 2024

The Ballon d'Or means the Golden Ball, and it is an individual award that honors the male football player deemed by vote to have the best performance over the previous year. The idea of this award presentation began in 1956 by the French news magazine, France Football and has since grown to become one of the most prestigious individual football player awards in the world. Between 2010 and 2015, it was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year and named the FIFA Ballon d'Or. From 2024 however, it will be co organized by UEFA. 

Since 1956 till 2023, a total of sixty-four (64) players have been honored with this outstanding award. Most notably, some players have won it only once and others multiple times. Arguably, some of the best players the world has ever known have never won it. It's therefore interesting to find out who are the players with most Ballon D'or awards? Or maybe, which player has the most individual awards in football? Before then, how are the potential Ballon D or winners list selected?

To decide the nominees and eventual winner of the Ballon d'Or, firstly, one hundred (100) journalists from around the world are chosen. Each of these journalists represent a different country among the top-ranked FIFA nations. These individuals are then given a shortlist of 30 football players and tasked to choose only five of them in descending order of merit. As the numbers are cut down by these selections, the player with the most Ballon D'or points, ultimately wins the award.

The event is typically held at the last quarter of every year at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, France. This year, it will be held on Monday, 28 October 2024.

Looking at the top Ballon d'Or winners, we find a total of 64 winners. However, there are only a total of ten players that have won the award more than once. Here are the top 10 Ballon d'Or winners.

Lionel Andres Messi became the third youngest player to win the Ballon d'Or in 2009 at 22 years, 5 months 7 days old. Making his debut for Barcelona in October 2004 at 17 years of age, it took him just five years to climb to the top of the football pyramid as a highly talented player. There was no doubting his ability, and it wasn't long before he proved it wasn't a fluke.

Messi became only the fifth player to win the Ballon d'Or consecutively when he picked it up again in 2010, and then made it a hat-trick in 2011, becoming only the second player in the world to do so after Michel Platini of France. Well, he wasn't done. In 2012, the Argentine made history by winning his 4th Ballon d'Or. His consecutive quartet of Ballons d'Or stands him out as the first and only player till date ever to achieve that milestone.

Within the following 13 years, Messi has doubled his Ballon d'Or awards cabinet by winning four more in 2015, 2019, 2021 and the latest being in 2023.

How many Ballon D'or does Messi have? A total of eight awards, and here is the data

Cristiano Ronaldo was first awarded the Ballon d'Or in 2008 at age 23. He was at the top of his game with Manchester United under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson winning three Premier League titles in a row, and the UEFA Champions League. Undeniably, one of the best in the world, he moved to Real Madrid for a then world record fee of 94 million Euros.

Rivaling Lionel Messi in Spain on every club level and also in the international scene, Ronaldo scooped the Ballon d'Or award twice in a row, in 2013 and 2014. The were the seasons he won the Champions League, Copa del Rey, the European Super Cup, and Club World Cup with Los Blancos.

Ronaldo repeated the feat again in 2016 and 2017, by winning a brace of Ballon d'Or awards. Not only that, still with the Spanish club, he again won the La Liga, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and got a third place runners up medal with Portugal at the FIFA Confederations Cup.

How many Ballon d'Or does Ronaldo have? A total of five awards, and here is the data.

The most Golden Ball winner for women goes to just a single player, Alexia Putellas, who has won it twice. Unlike the men's award, which started in 1956, the first award for female players began in 2018. There have been a total of four winners altogether.

Based on current form alone, here are the top ten players today:

• Jude Bellingham;
• Erling Haaland;
• Harry Kane;
• Mohamed Salah;
• Kylian Mbappe;
• Cristiano Ronaldo;
• Lionel Messi;
• Rodri;
• Lautaro Martinez;
• Victor Osihemen

I'm 2024, there are strong contenders to make the Ballon d'Or list. The likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Haaland are hot on the heels of Messi and Ronaldo. It doesn't matter who is the highest Ballon d'Or winner, who has the most Ballon d'Or, no of Ballon d'Or won by Ronaldo, number of Ballon d'Or won by Messi or who among these two is the most famous FIFA player. All that matter is form, achievements and impact of players which reflect on the overall team performance.