Previous Winners
| Year | Ballon d'Or | Fifa World Player of the Year |
| 1956 | Stanley Matthews  |
|
| 1957 | Alfredo Di Stefano  |
|
| 1958 | Raymond Kopa  |
|
| 1959 | Alfredo Di Stefano |
|
| 1960 | Luis Suarez |
|
| 1961 | Omar Sivori  |
|
| 1962 | Josef Masopust  |
|
| 1963 | Lev Yashin  |
|
| 1964 | Denis Law  |
|
| 1965 | Eusebio  |
|
| 1966 | Bobby Charlton |
|
| 1967 | Florian Albert  |
|
| 1968 | George Best  |
|
| 1969 | Gianni Rivera |
|
| 1970 | Gerd Mueller  |
|
| 1971 | Johan Cruyff  |
|
| 1972 | Franz Beckenbauer |
|
| 1973 | Johan Cruyff |
|
| 1974 | Johan Cruyff |
|
| 1975 | Oleg Blokhin |
|
| 1976 | Franz Beckenbauer |
|
| 1977 | Allan Simonsen  |
|
| 1978 | Kevin Keegan |
|
| 1979 | Kevin Keegan |
|
| 1980 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge |
|
| 1981 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge |
|
| 1982 | Paolo Rossi |
|
| 1983 | Michel Platini |
|
| 1984 | Michel Platini |
|
| 1985 | Michel Platini |
|
| 1986 | Igor Belanov |
|
| 1987 | Ruud Gullit |
|
| 1988 | Marco van Basten |
|
| 1989 | Marco van Basten |
|
| 1990 | Lothar Matthaeus |
|
| 1991 | Jean-Pierre Papin |
Lothar Matthaeus |
| 1992 | Marco van Basten |
Marco van Basten |
| 1993 | Roberto Baggio |
Roberto Baggio |
| 1994 | Hristo Stoichkov  |
Romario  |
| 1995 | George Weah  |
George Weah |
| 1996 | Matthias Sammer |
Ronaldo |
| 1997 | Ronaldo |
Ronaldo |
| 1998 | Zinedine Zidane |
Zinedine Zidane |
| 1999 | Rivaldo |
Rivaldo |
| 2000 | Luis Figo |
Zinedine Zidane |
| 2001 | Michael Owen |
Luis Figo |
| 2002 | Ronaldo |
Ronaldo |
| 2003 | Pavel Nedved  |
Zinedine Zidane |
| 2004 | Andriy Shevchenko  |
Ronaldinho |
| 2005 | Ronaldinho |
Ronaldinho |
| 2006 | Fabio Cannavaro |
Fabio Cannavaro |
| 2007 | Kaka |
Kaka |
| 2008 | Cristiano Ronaldo |
Cristiano Ronaldo |
| 2009 | Lionel Messi  |
Lionel Messi |