List of Ballon d’Or winners

List of Ballon d’Or winners since the award’s inception in 1956 after Cristiano Ronaldo was named 2016 winner on Monday:

1956 – Stanley Matthews (England)

1957 – Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain)

1958 – Raymond Kopa (France)

1959 – Alfredo di Stefano (Spain)

1960 – Luis Suarez (Spain)

1961 – Omar Sivori (Italy)

1962 – Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia)

1963 – Lev Yashin (Soviet Union)

1964 – Denis Law (Scotland)

1965 – Eusebio (Portugal)

1966 – Bobby Charlton (England)

1967 – Florian Albert (Hungary)

1968 – George Best (Northern Ireland)

1969 – Gianni Rivera (Italy)

1970 – Gerd Mueller (West Germany)

1971 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)

1972 – Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)

1973 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)

1974 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)

1975 – Oleg Blokhin (Soviet Union)

1976 – Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany)

1977 – Allan Simonsen (Denmark)

1978 – Kevin Keegan (England)

1979 – Kevin Keegan (England)

1980 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany)

1981 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany)

1982 – Paolo Rossi (Italy)

1983 – Michel Platini (France)

1984 – Michel Platini (France)

1985 – Michel Platini (France)

1986 – Igor Belanov (Soviet Union)

1987 – Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)

1988 – Marco van Basten (Netherlands)

1989 – Marco van Basten (Netherlands)

1990 – Lothar Matthaeus (Germany)

1991 – Jean-Pierre Papin (France)

1992 – Marco van Basten (Netherlands)

1993 – Roberto Baggio (Italy)

1994 – Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)

1995 – George Weah (Liberia)

1996 – Matthias Sammer (Germany)

1997 – Ronaldo (Brazil)

1998 – Zinedine Zidane (France)

1999 – Rivaldo (Brazil)

2000 – Luis Figo (Portugal)

2001 – Michael Owen (England)

2002 – Ronaldo (Brazil)

2003 – Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic)

2004 – Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)

2005 – Ronaldinho (Brazil)

2006 – Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)

2007 – Kaka (Brazil)

2008 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

2009 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)

2010 – Lionel Messi (Argentina) *

2011 – Lionel Messi (Argentina) *

2012 – Lionel Messi (Argentina) *

2013 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) *

2014 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) *

2015 – Lionel Messi (Argentina) *

2016 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

 * From 2010-2015 the Ballon d’Or was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year to create the FIFA Ballon d’Or award.