Every Ballon d'Or winner: Messi, Ronaldo & best player awards from 1956 to 2018
Following Luka Modric ending Messi and Ronaldo’s duopoly on football’s most prestigious individual award, we look back at every past winner
Luka Modric became the first man not named Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to win the Ballon d’Or in over a decade this week.
Despite Messi and Ronaldo’s recent duopoly on the award there was a time where the winner was changing every year.
Goal takes a look at every winner of the prestigious France Football award, from Stanley Matthews winning the inaugural award in 1956 to Modric’s triumph in 2018.
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1956 – Stanley Matthews – Blackpool & England
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1957 – Alfredo Di Stefano – Real Madrid & Spain
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1958 – Raymond Kopa – Real Madrid & France
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1959 – Alfredo Di Stefano – Real Madrid & Spain
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1960 – Luis Suarez – Barcelona & Spain
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1961 – Omar Sivori – Juventus & Italy
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1962- Josef Masopust – Dukla Prague & Czechoslovakia
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1963 – Lev Yashin – Dynamo Moscow & Soviet Union
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1964 – Denis Law – Man Utd & Scotland
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1965 – Eusebio – Benfica & Portugal
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1966 – Bobby Charlton – Man Utd & England
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1967 – Florian Albert – Ferencvaros & Hungary
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1968 – George Best – Man Utd & Northern Ireland
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1969 – Gianni Rivera – AC Milan & Italy
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1970 – Gerd Muller – Bayern Munich & West Germany
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1971 – Johan Cruyff – Ajax & Netherlands
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1972 – Franz Beckenbauer – Bayern Munich & West Germany
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1973 – Johan Cruyff – Barcelona & Netherlands
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1974 – Johan Cruyff – Barcelona & Netherlands
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1975 – Oleg Blokhin – Dynamo Kyiv & Soviet Union
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1976 – Franz Beckenbauer – Bayern Munich & West Germany
1977 – Allan Simonsen – Borussia Monchengladbach & Denmark
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1978 – Kevin Keegan – Hamburg & England
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1979 – Kevin Keegan – Hamburg & England
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1980 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge – Bayern Munich & West Germany
1981 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge – Bayern Munich & West Germany
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1982 – Paolo Rossi – Juventus & Italy
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1983 – Michel Platini – Juventus & France
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1984 – Michel Platini – Juventus & France
1985 – Michel Platini – Juventus & France
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1986 – Igor Belanov – Dynamo Kyiv & Soviet Union
1987 – Ruud Gullit – AC Milan & Netherlands
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1988 – Marco van Basten – AC Milan & Netherlands
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1989 – Marco van Basten – AC Milan & Netherlands
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1990 – Lothar Matthaus – Inter & West Germany
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1991 Jean-Pierre Papin – Marseille & France
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1992 – Marco van Basten – AC Milan & Netherlands
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1993 – Roberto Baggio – Juventus & Italy
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1994 – Hristo Stoichkov – Barcelona & Bulgaria
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1995 – George Weah – AC Milan & Liberia
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1996 – Matthias Sammer – Borussia Dortmund & Germany
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1997 – Ronaldo – Inter & Brazil
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1998 – Zinedine Zidane – Juventus & France
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1999- Rivaldo – Barcelona & Brazil
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2000 – Luis Figo – Real Madrid & Portugal
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2001- Michael Owen – Liverpool & England
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2002 – Ronaldo – Real Madrid & Brazil
2003 – Pavel Nedved – Juventus & Czech Republic
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2004 – Andriy Shevchenko – AC Milan & Ukraine
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2005 – Ronaldinho – Barcelona & Brazil
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2006 – Fabio Cannavaro – Real Madrid & Italy
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2007 – Kaka – AC Milan & Brazil
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2008 – Cristiano Ronaldo – Man Utd & Portugal
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2009 – Lionel Messi – Barcelona & Argentina
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2010 – Lionel Messi – Barcelona & Argentina
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2011 – Lionel Messi – Barcelona & Argentina
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2012 – Lionel Messi – Barcelona & Argentina
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2013 – Cristiano Ronaldo – Real Madrid & Portugal
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2014 – Cristiano Ronaldo – Real Madrid & Portugal
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2015 – Lionel Messi – Barcelona & Argentina
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2016 – Cristiano Ronaldo – Real Madrid & Portugal
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2017 – Cristiano Ronaldo – Real Madrid & Portugal
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2018 – Luka Modric – Real Madrid & Croatia