In brief
As the finest player in the history of the Ballon d’Or, Lionel Messi has won the award an unprecedented eight times.
The final two Ballon d’Or titles were won by Rodri in 2024 and Ousmane Dembele in 2025, respectively, adding to Manchester City’s and Paris Saint-Germain’s respective totals.
There has been a single Ballon d’Or winner in the history of Marseille, Liverpool, Ferencvaros, Dynamo Moscow, Dukla Prague, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund, Blackpool, and Benfica.
It goes without saying that winning the Ballon d’Or is not for the weak of heart. You must be the best football player in the world, with little leeway for bad performances during a given time frame. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the greatest award winners ever because of this.
The Argentine has won the world’s largest individual award more times than anyone else, making Messi the man with the greatest legacy in Ballon d’Or history. However, since Sir Stanley Matthews accepted the award at the inaugural ceremony in 1956, there have been 47 winners, with Ousmane Dembele being the most recent.
The coveted individual prize, granted to the finest footballer in each calendar year, was established by French weekly magazine France Football back in 1956. Many of the best football players in history, such as Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Johan Cruyff, and Ronaldo Nazario, have since won the Ballon d’Or.
With that said, let’s examine which clubs have the most Ballon d’Or winners. Since the award’s establishment in the mid-fifties, which clubs have had the greatest success? Several clubs have only had one winner in their history.
22Manchester City (Wins: 1)
Sheikh Mansour’s 2008 acquisition of Manchester City gave them a lift, and they have been improving ever since. They have won England’s top division six times under Pep Guardiola’s leadership, including in 2012, when they did so for the first time since the 1960s. However, one of its players did not win the Ballon d’Or until 2024.
At the event last year, Rodri, the club’s lynchpin, defeated Vinicius Jr. of Real Madrid, who chose not to attend. Given that he was a central midfielder rather than a goal-scoring striker, there were doubts about whether he earned it, but that doesn’t lessen his magnificence. It followed his best season wearing the City colours, in which he and his colleagues won the triple.
21Marseille (Wins: 1)
After winning Ligue 1 with Marseille and making it to the European Cup final, Jean-Pierre Papin emerged victorious in 1991. The legendary striker is still regarded as one of the best ever created by the country that also gave the football world players like David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry.
Before a certain Argentine wizard became the second to do so, Papin was the only player to win the Ballon d’Or while playing for a French club for twenty years. Many people undervalue his ability to score goals and his overall technical skill set. Despite having a lengthy and prosperous career, this would be Papin’s only Ballon d’Or victory.
20Liverpool (Wins: 1)
The only previous Ballon d’Or winner for Liverpool was Michael Owen of England in 2001. The striker helped the Reds win a treble in the 2000–01 season by scoring two excellent goals in the FA Cup final in 2001. With the quick forward at the heart of the action, Liverpool won a UEFA Cup title in addition to two domestic cups.
Even players like Raul, David Beckham, and Luis Figo, who all had outstanding seasons in their own right, were defeated by Owen to win the 2001 Ballon d’Or. Owen’s career may have peaked at this point because his 2004 move to Real Madrid, which was a poor decision, would mark the beginning of the end of his tenure at the top level, as injuries continued to mount in the years that followed.
19Ferencvaros (Wins: 1)
The 1967 Ballon d’Or went to Florian Albert of Ferencvaros, who held off Sir Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Johnstone. Many people might assume Ferenc Puskas is the only Hungarian to have lifted the trophy, but Albert is the one who actually holds that distinction. He was a forward who scored an amazing 256 goals in 351 games over his whole club career with Ferencvaros.
Watching vintage footage of the striker is amazing since Albert resembled a more contemporary attacker who could drop deep and aid in his team’s build-up. He was far from a penalty box striker who was always moving to score from opportunities produced, which adds to the impressiveness of his goal total and suggests that he was more than worthy of winning the Ballon d’Or.
18Dynamo Moscow (Wins: 1)
Lev Yashin, arguably the most renowned goalie of all time, won the Ballon d’Or in 1963 while playing for Dynamo Moscow. None of the top goalkeepers who have come after him have this accomplishment listed on their resumes. Even players like Gianluigi Buffon and Oliver Khan have failed to win the Ballon d’Or, making Yashin the only goalie to do so.
The Russian, who is remembered as the famous goalie who wore a cap, was a magnificent sight to behold in goal, and fans now wish they could have experienced his genius. During his playing career, he was a hero for his club and his country, and Dynamo Moscow fans in particular will always remember him.
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