The “Ballon d’Or” is given out by France Football every year. It is one of the most coveted honours in the sport. The award honours the greatest footballers in the world. Continue reading if you want to learn more.
Regarded by some as the most prestigious awards in football, ⚽, the Ballon d’Or does a great job of inflating the ego investment of the clubs that pay soccer players tremendous amounts of money, often enough to fund a low-budget live-action adaptation.
But who needs to see grown men in spandex costumes when you can share an exhilarating moment of camaraderie with some sweaty dude you met at a pub when your favourite team wins?
Or when soccer is the only dorm of catharsis you and your estranged father, who works two jobs just to be able to afford the power bill for your 43-inch television, can share after the 35 years he spent buying milk.
The point is, soccer creates bonds. It brings two unlikely people together. And what the Ballon D’or tries to do is celebrate and award those who give their all to a ball just to make said bonds happen.
To recognize those that inspire the sounds of thousands of cheering fans even in the face of an economic downturn, like when Manchester won the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup just 3 months after the Global Financial Crisis on September 15, 2008!
It’s down to the excitement we get when we hear the walls of favelas in Brazil speak of goals scored and chants of “O Jogo Bonito”—the beautiful game.
The Ballon d’Or represents more than just an award; it is the recognition of everything we celebrate in athletes: discipline, persistence, courage, and generosity.
The award, which translates to “golden ball” in French and was created with that exact meaning in mind, has been given out since 1956 by France Football, a venerable French news publication.
It was created by a former French football player, national coach, and sports journalist, Gabriel Hanot, and his colleague Jacques Ferran, while they were both employed by the daily newspaper L’Équipe, where Hanot eventually held the position of editor.
Although Gabriel only scored three goals in 12 international appearances before his career was cut short by a plane crash when he was 29, he and Ferran are credited with conceptualising the UEFA Champions League, then known as the European Champion Clubs’ Cup.
In the inaugural award presentation, Stanley Matthews of England emerged as the victor in 1956, and the award has been presented ever since in the past 66 years.
Furthermore, it initially only awarded European players and was known as the European Footballer of the Year award at the time.
As a result, it did not achieve worldwide acclaim until its merger with the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2010, which lasted for 5 years and ended in 2016.
The shift toward global recognition of players can be traced back to when the rules were changed to accommodate active but non-European players, with George Weah becoming the first non-European to win the award and the only African to do so since 1995.
In 1997, South American player Ronaldo Delima of Brazil followed him.
It would take the award another ten years to make the politically correct decision to include players from all continents.
Given that the majority of the winners were still actively competing in Europe when they received their awards, it appears to be more of a formality because winners are still susceptible to the Ikea effect bias.
Besides that, the award show has been criticised for focusing on forwards and midfielders more than any other position.
Lev Yashin is the only goalkeeper to have received the award. Until now, that is! He received the award in 1963, which says a lot!
In addition, only three defenders have won the award: Franz Beckenbauer in 1972 and 1976; Matthias Sammer in 1996; and Fabio Cannavaro in 2006.
Although Sean Walsh would argue that, “Attackers generally reign supreme because that’s why we watch football—to be entertained, to watch goals be scored, and for these goals to create lasting memories.”
There’s also the issue of shifting power between only two players (Ronaldo and Messi) for the last 14 years. This is with the exception of 2018 when Real Madrid’s Luka Modric won the award and 2020 when the award show was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lewandowski was heavily favoured to win.
Only two players have passed the ball between themselves like a game of catch, although Messi’s ball possession appears to be more in favour of his Portuguese rival. This seems to be the result of a subjective voting bias.
When comparing between clubs, Spanish club Barcelona commands the highest number of awards with 12 wins by 6 players, beating their El Clásico rivals, Real Madrid, who boast of 11 wins by 7 players.
Aside from Barcelona and Real Madrid, Juventus and Milan followed, with eight wins each by six players, respectively. Argentina has 7 wins, all by Messi, and is followed by the Netherlands and Portugal with 7 wins each.
The Netherlands had three (3) players who had won the awards, while Portugal had three (3).
Ballon d’Or Winners
According to inews, these are the past winners of the Golden Ball in the past 25 years.
1997: Ronaldo (Internazionale)
1998: Zinedine Zidane (Juventus)
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 (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: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
2017: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
2018: Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
2019: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
2020: Canceled because of COVID-19
2021: Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)
Great read! Keep up the good work
Thank you for your sustained interest! Be sure to catch the next one.