Ranking EVERY Ballon d'Or Winner From Worst To Best

the Ballon d'Or is widely considered to be the most prestigious individual award in all of world football historically the Ballon d'Or was reserved only for Europeans commonly referred to as the European footballer of the Year award but in 1995 it was opened up to players from anywhere in the world so long as they were playing in Europe and in 2007 by which stage all of the best players were already playing in Europe thus rendering it entirely pointless it was opened up to players playing anywhere on the planet by my account 45 players have won the 66 ballon d'ors to have been awarded since 1956 with the 10 multiple Ballon d'Or winners having won a total of 31 ball on doors between them I have repeatedly over the years being asked to try and rank them from worst to best and I've actually planned this video twice in the past before deciding not to go ahead with it still the requests kept flooding in though including this one from Connor recently which got over 300 likes so if I have any hope at all of retaining my reputation as the people's Channel I decided that I'd best bite the bullet and finally go for it my prior reluctance was twofold because there are loads of them so I knew that this would take ages and because they are all brilliant footballers obviously they won the Ballon d'Or so labeling any of them as the worst even if only the worst among Elite competition seems to be rather silly and cruel so before I begin the obvious caveat here is that the worst Ballon d'Or winner is like being the worst physicist of won a Nobel Prize or the ugliest person cast as the lead woman in a James Bond film chances are you're still doing all right and to keep this video from being about five hours long I am going to barely say anything about some of the greatest players ever to played the game and literally almost nothing about a fair few of them without further Ado then here is my best attempt at ranking every Ballon d'Or winner from worst of best based upon their talent and their entire careers not solely the calendar year in which they won the Ballon d'Or which you will no doubt strongly disagree with and that's a good thing 45th Igor belanov well I'm afraid that someone has to take the wooden spoon and in this case it is Igor balanov quite possibly the least remembered Ballon d'Or winner at least outside of Ukraine belanov was a surprise winner in 1986 coming out ahead of World Cup Golden Boot winner Gary lineker and Real Madrid's Emilio but regano a tremendous athlete who could run the 50 meters in 5.7 seconds and then 0.3 seconds shy of the world record at that time balanov combined his speed with a ferocious shot and in Valeri lovanovsky's very well-oiled machine at Dino Mount Kiev he was integral to their travel win in 1986 hence that Ballon d'Or without lobanovsky's Direction though belanov suffered a steep decline struggling at Borussia Munchen glad back following the end of the Cold War and playing second serve football in Germany aged only 29 Within four years of his Ballon d'Or Crown as good as he was for a brief period of time performing a very specific role bellinov is the right choice I think to get us started 44th Pavel nadmed I promised you brevity which you didn't get with my first inclusion but you will do for the next few paval nadved was one of my favorite footballers growing up actually improving the Juventus team with his stamina and skill after replacing Zinedine Zidane so it feels like sacrilege to rank him this low tough calls are the order of the day though so it is the 2003 winner who prevented Thierry Henry from ever winning a Ballon d'Or who becomes our second inclusion 43rd Matthias summer featured on this channel just a few days ago in a video about footballers who defied the odds to become better players than their very talented fathers Matthias summer became a better player than anyone in Europe in 1996 at least according to those with a vote when he won the Ballon d'Or a tremendous sweeper who would improve almost any team on the planet in his prime Samus struggle with injuries throughout much of his career and he was sadly forced to retire from football at the age of 31. 42nd George where the first and still the only African International to win the Ballon d'Or and the only player in this list who is now the president of an actual country whale won the Ballon d'Or a year before summer in 1995 which was the same year in which he left PSG following a third place finish in Lee Gunn it's a sign for AC Milan waya was a brilliant all-round forward who left a huge impression on the sport and influenced so many forwards who followed but I couldn't quite justify ranking him ahead of the man up next 40 fast Paolo Rossi one of several football legends to have left us in recent years Paolo Rossi is an icon of Italian football having LED Italy to their first post-war World Cup Crown in 1982 where he won both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball an opportunistic Center forward with underrated ability on the ball Rossi scored 24 goals in 30 games of spatzia in the 1977-78 season at a time when scoring goals in Syria was notoriously difficult 40th Alan simmonsson the only Ballon d'Or winner I think I'm right in saying ever to have played for Charlton athletic Alan simmonsson turned down offers from Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur to play for the addicts where he bagged nine goals in just 16 games before leaving the club because they couldn't afford to pay him I thought it a brilliant diminutive Marksman who had lightning acceleration and equally quick feat Simmons and spent his best years at Borussia Munchen glad back and at Barcelona where he was replaced by none other than Diego Maradona and he won the Ballon d'Or in 1977. in addition to finishing third in 1983 39th Michael Owen much maligned these days the reality is that we're not for injuries Michael Owen would probably have gone down as England's greatest player of all time one of the most explosive teenagers to have ever played the sport Owen was actually already passed his best when he won the Ballon d'Or in 2001 despite being only age 21. he won back-to-back Premier League golden boots in his teams he was Unstoppable at his best and he would be England's all-time record goal scorer by Miles if it weren't for the fact that his muscles were it's easier than tissue paper I could only rank him on talents and the career that he actually had though rather than the one that he could have had hence his spot in 39th 38th Fabio caravaro this will seem like sacrilege to some people but I do feel as though Fabio cannavaro is a teeny weeny bit overrated he was absolutely world class for a very long time make no mistake and he was faultless for Italy as he captained them to welcome glory in 2006. the fact that he played so well at that World Cup though and became a very rare center-back to win a Ballon d'Or means that caravaro is sometimes cited as being one of the greatest Defenders of all time when even just contemporary Italians like Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta were both better than him in my eyes at least nonetheless he was an absolute Class Act and 38 feels just about right 37th Jean-Pierre papan one of the greatest French footballers of all time Jean-Pierre papan was unfortunate to have only just broken into the France team for the 1986 World Cup when they had a really strong Squad and to have finished playing International Football shortly before their 1998 World Cup win a club level he topped the league on scoring charts in five separate seasons and he won the Ballon d'Or in 1991 a year in which he scored 36 goals in 50 games to firemaster say through to the final of the European Cup 36th Florian albat it is difficult to rank Florian Albert by virtue of the fact that he only ever played for ference varosh at a time when Hungarian football was still very competitive but nowhere near as good as it had been prior to the country's 1956 Uprising Albert proved his class Beyond any doubts on the international stage though becoming the joint highest scorer at the 1962 World Cup when he was just 20 years old as elegant as they come in terms of out and Out Center forwards Albert won the Ballon d'Or in 1967 ahead of British Duo Jimmy Johnston and Bobby Charlton after scoring 28 goals in 27 games for ference varrosh 35th Kevin Keegan the lowest ranked player to have won more than one Ballon d'Or Kevin Keegan one consecutive European Player of the Year Awards while starring for Hamburg in 1978 and 1979. a powerful gifted and explosive Center forward Keegan began his career at scunthorpe United became a star at Liverpool and even holds legendary status at both Southampton and Newcastle his last two clubs where he spent just two seasons but was more prolific than he had been at any other clubs 34th Karen Benzema the most recent recipient of the Ballon d'Or Karen Benzema was for so long the bridesmaid at Real Madrid but he has rarely stepped up to become their main man ever since Cristiano Ronaldo's departure there have been few players in history good enough or at least willing enough to do both the donkey work and be the tallest man at various different stages as benzemara's done and it is frightening to think how many goals Benzema could have scored had he always been the star his consistency contribution success and Longevity all earnimus spot in 34th but on sheer talent I couldn't justify putting him ahead of the man up next 33rd Andre shevchenko don't be blinded by Andre shevchenko's short and fairly disappointing stints at Chelsea at a time when goals in Syria were hard to come by Andre shevchenko scored them for fun made in Kiev and perfected in Milan shevchenko won the Ballon d'Or ahead of Deco and Ronaldinho in 2004 having previously made the podium in both 1999 and in the year 2000. again it was sheer talent that meant I had to rank Aristo stoichkov over the man who preceded him and a few players in history have had as much ability as the beguiling Bulgarian a creative second Striker who played his very best football in a withdrawn role stoichkov scored 47 goals in just 38 games in his last season at CSK Sophia before starring alongside Romario in Johann Crush dream team at Barcelona stoichkov won the Ballon d'Or in 1994 after winning the World Cup Golden Boot in the United States 31st Yosef massifust I'm already taking too long in this video so all I'll say is that Czechoslovakia Legend Joseph massapust was one of the greatest midfielders of all time and he is the first player in this list so featured in my own video taking a look at the 100 greatest footballers of all time which you are more than welcome to check out if you would like a bit more detail and depth about him and all of the players that follow 30th Kaka it is near enough impossible to rank someone like Kaka who was so quick so elegant and so deadly in transition at his Majestic best but didn't enjoy a peak that was as long as many of the others in this list ultimately my conclusion is 30th which does seem a little brutal until I name all of the players that feature in the 20s and then it seems a little bit more reasonable 29th Dennis Law arguably the greatest Scottish footballer of all time and still the only Scots of won the Ballon d'Or Dennis Law constituted one third of the Holy Trinity of best law and Charlton at Manchester United all of whom quite incredibly won the Ballon d'Or good on the ball dead-eyed in front of goal and an absolute Menace In The Air law won the Ballon d'Or in 1964 following a season in which he scored 46 goals in only 42 games 28th Luca Modric propelling us right back into the present day Luca Modric won the Ballon d'Or in 2018 after winning the Champions League with Real Madrid an inspiring Croatia all the way to a FIFA World Cup final his performances at the 2022 World Cup given that he is now 37 years old were arguably even more impressive and the Energy Efficiency and their faultless decision making that he has shown for the past decade now has convinced me the Modric is Comfortably one of the 10 best players of the 21st Century 27th Rivaldo at his absolute best Rivaldo is one of the best footballers that I have ever seen full stop big powerful skillful inventive and a real match winner capable of taking any game at any level by the Scruff of the neck if he had been able to maintain the standard of his 20s into his 30s as well as Luka Modric has he'd probably have made my top 10. 26th Luis Figo at the end of this video I cross-reference the 31 highest ranked players with my 100 greatest players of all time video and all ranked in pretty much if not the exact same order with the exception of Louis Figo who I ranked much higher a few years ago don't ask me why that is the case but Figo was a sensational footballer the best in the world at the turn of the Millennium and great value for his Ballon d'Or win ahead of Zinedine Zidane and Andre shechenko in the year 2000. 25th Olay blocking the highest scorer in the history of Dina malkiev the Soviet Union and the Soviet top League you would imagine that at least two of those records are pretty safe for the foreseeable future and there is no one more fitting to hold them than Olay blocking renowned for his speed dribbling and of course his goal scoring blocking won the Ballon d'Or in 1975 ahead of Franz beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff so not bad competition 24th rude hullet one of the most complete players of the last 30 or 40 years whether he was played in defense Midfield or an attack rude hollett was an absolute gem in every team that he graced he was very much a forward when he won the Ballon d'Or in 1987 which was also the year that he left PSV to join AC Milan where he went on to win three Syria titles and two European cups Hallett was also a runner-up in 88 Ballon d'Or voting finishing behind his club and international teammate Marco van basten 23rd Carl Heinz romerica our second two-time Ballon d'Or winner following Kevin Keegan Carl Heinz rumenegger also won both of his ballon d'ors while starring in the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich in his case a winner in 1980 and in 1981 Rumer didn't even make the top three of voting in 1982 despite winning the silver shoe the bronze ball and making the team of the tournament as Germany reached the final of the 1982 World Cup 22nd Raymond copper the third recipient of the Ballon d'Or REM and Real Madrid Legend Raymond copper reigned Victorious following his starring role in Real Madrid's third successive European Cup win a playmaking Marvel round for his speed and close control copper was a prolific crater and score of goals and he finished third in 1956 and 1957 voting second in 1959 and he won his Ballon d'Or in 1958. no player with only one Ballon d'Or win has made more Podium appearances 21st Omar silvery one of both Argentina and Italy's greatest players of all time Omar Savory was a world-class forward who delighted in humiliating opponents and entertaining A Crowd he spent his best years playing for Juventus and he won the 1961 Ballon d'Or after scoring 29 goals in 28 games in the 1960-61 campaign 20th Gianni Rivera one of the most intelligent footballers ever to have laced up a pair of boots Gianni Rivera throughout his entire career was similar to Lionel Messi now walking around the pitch seemingly just ambling about and doing nothing before bursting into life in moments and winning games of football on his own he won the Ballon d'Or in 1969 narrowly ahead of his compatriot Gigi Riva in second place and gerd Mueller in third 19th Roberto Baggio there is a distinctly Italian feel to our last few inclusions or at least Argentine Italian in samori's case and there are those who would claim that Roberto Baggio is the greatest Italian footballer of all time endlessly skillful and inventive vagio was a star of the 1994 World Cup before blazing his penalty over the crossbar in the final to give Brazil a fourth World Cup Crown had he dispatched from just 12 yards out he may well have won a second successive Ballon d'Or in 94 having won his first in 1993. 18. Luis Suarez not Luis Suarez of the Uruguayan variety who never even made a bound or Podium appearance despite scoring 59 goals in 53 games in the 2015-16 season it was the Spanish Luis Suarez who spent his best years at Inter Milan who not only won the Ballon d'Or in 1960 but finished second in 1961 and 1964 and third in 1965. an inside forward at Barcelona where he won the Ballon d'Or who was converted to a deep-line playmaker in the two-time European Cup winning Grande inter team Suarez is good value for a spot at 18th 17th Ronaldinho a top five player of my lifetime at least at the peak of his powers between 2002 and 2007 there was next to nothing that Ronaldinho couldn't do with a ball at his feet a love of partying and only a fleeting interest in training meant that his Peak wasn't as long as it could have been and he won his only Ballon d'Or in 2005 having finished third in 2004. 16th Marco van basten one of only five players to have won three or more ballon d'ors I don't think it's always fully appreciated quite how remarkable it is that he managed that despite being forced to retire from football after playing his final match at the age of 28. van basten was near enough the perfect Center forward tall Elegance athletic and clinical his three Ballon d'Or wins came in 1988 1989 and in 1992 though somewhat surprisingly he never finished second or third 15th zetadine Zidane Zinedine Zidane was my favorite player growing up well second only to Stuart Elliot due to his combination of Grace and athleticism but I don't think there is a genuine candidate when it comes to discussion surrounding who is the greatest player of all time and I have made an entire video explaining why that is the case nonetheless he is one of the finest footballers of the modern era he won one Ballon d'Or in 1998. he finished second and third in 2000 and 1997 and he takes 15th in this list the last of those no doubt being the greatest accomplishment of his career 14th lotar matteus a share Class Act lotar Matthias went from lethal attack midfielder in his early years to an Unstoppable box-to-box force of nature at in Summerland and eventually world-class Midfield sitter or even sweeper back up by a Munich in terms of Talons longevity consistency and success few can hold a candle to the German he's still of world class at the grand old age of 39 and 150 caps for Germany it's hard work winning a Ballon d'Or from Central Midfield just as it is hard work recording a video like this with an absolutely atrocious cold but that is exactly what Matthias did in 1990 winning the Ballon d'Or that is not recording this video as well as coming second in 1991 13th Stanley Matthews the late great Palais describes Stanley Matthews as being the man who taught the world how football should be played and though his 1956 Ballon d'Or win three points ahead of Alfredo de Stefano which made him the inaugural winner of the award at the age of 41 as a Winger no less may have been a Lifetime Achievement Award as much as a recognition of his performance it says that calendar year alone Matthews is one of the greatest footballers ever to have played the game he went on to play for another nine years after that and famously commented that he regretted retiring at 50 as he still had another good couple of years left in him twelve Gad Muller Gad Muller was the antithesis of someone like Marco van basten who looked like a perfectly formed Center forward Muller by contrast was short Squat and far less graceful on the ball he was deceptively quick though particularly over very short distances his anticipation and movement were unrivaled and above all else he just loves scoring goals there may never have been another footballer as blessed in that regard and he when a thoroughly deserved Ballon d'Or in 1970 in addition to making the podium in 1969 1972 and in 1973. 11th George Best there have been few more gifted players in the history of the sport than George best who was like Ronaldinho on steroids football came so easily to best that he had effectively completed the sport by the age of 22 when he won his Ballon d'Or having become the best player on the planet and won it's all at Manchester United sadly his career was effectively over at 27 due to alcoholism and other off-pitch issues but his talent takes him up to a length 10th Bobby Charlton George best's old comrader Manchester United Bobby Charlton is in my view at least the greatest English footballer of all time born with a ball at his feet Charlton was the complete player a brilliant athlete capable of driving his team up the pitch but also scoring and creating goals at will he used to say that he could never understand how anyone couldn't play football that's how easy he found it and he won the Ballon d'Or in 1966 after England won the World Cup before finishing second in 1967 and in 1968. ninth use Sabio there have been few more frightening prospects for a Defender to come up against in the history of world football than the great eusebio as fast as an Olympic sprinter as powerful as an ox as dainty as a ballerina with the ball at his feet and as lethal as his contemporary Gad Muller no one ever found a solution to stop him when he was at his best in 440 games for Benfica eusebio who was born in Mozambique scored 475 goals and he was unfortunate to only win one Ballon d'Or in 1965 finishing second in 1962 and in 1966 eighth leviation the only goalkeeper to have won the Ballon d'Or and still recognize today by most people as the greatest goalkeeper of all time Lev Yashin transcended football and the tensions at the time between East and West a huge presence both on and off the pitch who struck fear into Center forwards like no one else Yashin revolutionized the sport particularly in Europe by coming off his line organizing his defense at instigating attacks through his distribution it is hard to compare into 44 Outfield players but a top 10 finish is Thoroughly deserved in my eyes 7th Michelle platini Michelle platini won three successive ballon d'ors in 1983 1984 and 1985 and then retired in 1987 aged only 31 entirely of his own volition a classical number 10 who made scoring and creating goals look like the easiest thing in the world platini scored 25 or more goals from Midfield in 10 out of his 14 seasons in the game he is the greatest goal scoring midfielder of all time and one of the finest players Europe has ever produced 6th Franz beckenbauer into the top six and we are now talking about Bonafide all-time greats Franz beckenbauer made five Ballon d'Or Podium appearances that joint most of anyone other than Messi and Ronaldo and he won two in 1972 and 1976. beckenbauer announced himself to the world as Germany's star man playing in central Midfield of the 1966 World Cup he later moved into defense becoming the greatest sweeper of all time and making the All-Star team a two further World Cups including the 1974 World Cup which Germany won fifth Ronaldo if it weren't for injuries earlier on I said that Michael Owen could have become England's greatest player of all time and then Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima's case had he not completely ruptured his kneecap tendons at the age of 23. he could have gone down as a top three player of all time as a teenager Ronaldo was unlike anything that the world had seen at least since Palais freakishly quick and strong the ball appeared to be glued to his feet and he was scoring a goal again he won the Ballon d'Or twice once before his injury in 1997 and once after making a stunning comeback in 2002 in addition to finishing second in 1996 age 20 and third in 1998. fourth Johann crife it is an almost impossible decision in my eyes at least between the man in fourth who found football so easy and influenced the game as much as anyone else in the last 100 years and the man in third who had only a fraction of his talents but far greater longevity and success I settle for crife in fourth as Blasphemous as that may seem who won the Ballon d'Or Thrice in 1971 1973 and 1974 as well as finishing third in 1975. as a teenager crife averaged a goal a game at iax before dropping deeper and becoming the key exponents of Total Football his and renus Michael's view of the way in which football should be played third Cristiano Ronaldo the second most successful player in the history of the Ballon d'Or Cristiano Ronaldo has finished second in Ballon d'Or voting more times than anyone else and first more times than everyone other than Lionel Messi Ronaldo won his first Ballon d'Or in 2008 and his Fifth and what you would expect to be as last in 2017 winning the award on all but one occasion Jordan years in which his team had won the Champions League a tremendous athlete and one of the greatest goal scorers that the game has ever seen Ronaldo recently signed for al-nase in Saudi Arabia not South Africa second Alfredo de Stefano Alfredo de Stefano won the Ballon d'Or twice but that is only because he was already 30 when the award was introduced and there were some questions around whether he should be eligible to enter in 1956 when the first Ballon d'Or was held not yet having been naturalized in Spain at the time his two crowns then which should have been at least three and easily could have been four from the age of 30 onwards alone a remark of the fact that his Stefano is one of the greatest footballers of all time often described as the most complete player to have played the game DeStefano scored goals like Ronaldo dictated matches like Modric and beat players like crife a genius and unfortunate to only finish second first Lionel Messi the greatest footballer to have won the Ballon d'Or and the greatest player of all time alongside Palais as far as I'm concerned in addition to being one of the greatest assets of the despotic Saudi regime Lionel Messi has won a record seven ballon d'ors and he is the favorite to win what would be an eighth in 2023. in my view Messi should have won at least 10 ballon d'ors if the award did actually recognize the best footballer of the previous calendar year as you know it claims to and I have a whole video about why it doesn't do that and why it along with almost all individual Awards in football are either completely meaningless hideously corrupt or both which is well worth a watch if you've got a spare half an hour after this back on topic it should be said France football did recognize a series of new or additional winners of the Ballon d'Or in 2016 in which they awarded Pele with seven ballon d'ors Maradona with two and three other players with one a piece but I didn't include them since they weren't official winners and this video was already difficult enough Messi takes top spot by virtue of being the best dribbler pastor of a ball and goal scorer at least of my lifetime as well as having their Flawless decision making both on and off the ball I don't think that anyone has ever been as good at football as Messi and certainly no one who has ever won the Ballon d'Or so his place in top spot was always fairly assured that is it for today's video thank you all very much as of for watching I hope that it was worth the wait for those of you who have been requesting it or just have wanted to see it for a while my commiserations of course go to Igor balanov I still feel quite bad about that but you know someone has to come last and you know being the worst Ballon d'Or winner is quite an enviable status in of itself as I say thank you all very much as of watching hit the like button if you did enjoy today's video I hope that was the case let me know your thoughts Down Below in the comments and feel free to subscribe and turn on notifications for hitc sevens and you can also find me on either Twitter or Instagram via the username at hitc7s on both should you wish to do so and why wouldn't you

Channel: HITC Sevens

Views: 298,330

Keywords: HITC Sevens, Football, Soccer, Ballon d'Or, Ballon, d'Or, Messi, Ronaldo, Ranking, Every, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Premier League, Champions League, World Cup, Greatest, Best, All Time, Worst, Winners, Players, Footballers

Id: idCZRl9DJng

Length: 33min 35sec (2015 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 06 2023