Ballon d'Or winners by league
The 2023 Ballon d'Or ceremony is in the history books, with Lionel Messi once again the recipient of the most prestigious individual prize in men's football.
The Argentine was rewarded chiefly for his talismanic role in winning Argentina's first World Cup since 1986. Messi scored in six of his nation's seven matches in Qatar while collecting five Player of the Match awards along the way. Another Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain, in which he averaged a goal or assist every 89 minutes, also helped.
Messi is the first player ever employed by an MLS club to win the Ballon d'Or - even if he moved to Inter Miami after the window of consideration for votes. Here's the breakdown of winners by league since the award's inception in 1956.
Ballon d'Or winners by league
La Liga
La Liga is the most successful league for Ballon d'Or wins, raking in 23 over the years.
Just under half of those have come courtesy of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo throughout the late 2000s and 2010s, though Johan Cruyff and Alfredi Di Stefano also scored multiple wins at Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.
- Clubs: Barcelona, Real Madrid
- Number of wins: 24
- Players: Lionel Messi (6), Cristiano Ronaldo (4), Johan Cruyff (2), Alfredo Di Stefano (2), Luis Suarez, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Hristo Stoichkov, Raymond Kopa, Luis Figo, Ronaldo, Fabio Cannavaro, Luka Modric, Karim Benzema
Serie A
Serie A follow close behind thanks to their spate of victories in the 1980s and 1990s.
The now-disgraced Michel Platini won the award three years on the trot with Juventus, while the city of Milan also boast winners like Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Lothar Matthaus.
There hasn't been a winner from Serie A since 2007, when Kaka scooped the gong while playing for AC Milan.
- Clubs: Juventus, Milan, Inter
- Number of wins: 18
- Players: Michel Platini (3), Marco van Basten (3), Omar Sivori, Paolo Rossi, Roberto Baggio, Zinedine Zidane, Pavel Nedved, Gianni Rivera, Ruud Gullit, Lothar Matthaus, George Weah, Andriy Shevchenko, Kaka, Ronaldo,
Bundesliga
Some German greats have also enjoyed success in the Ballon d'Or, with national team heroes Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge each scooping the award twice.
Former England midfielder Kevin Keegan was also widely seen as the best player in the world during the late 1970s and won two awards with Hamburg.
- Clubs: Bayern Munich, Hamburg, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Monchengladbach
- Number of wins: 9
- Players: Franz Beckenbauer (2), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (2), Kevin Keegan (2), Gerd Muller, Matthias Sammer, Allan Simonsen
English First Division/Premier League
While their teams have won their fair share of European Cups and Champions Leagues, the old First Division and Premier League only have a select number of Ballon d'Or wins.
Cristiano Ronaldo's win with Manchester United and Michael Owen's success with Liverpool rank among the standouts performers, though legends like Bobby Charlton and Stanley Matthews also won the award.
- Clubs: Manchester United, Blackpool, Liverpool
- Number of wins: 6
- Players: Cristiano Ronaldo, Denis Law, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Michael Owen, Stanley Matthews
Soviet Top League
Teams part of the Soviet Union still have a better record in the Ballon d'Or than most existing nations.
Lev Yashin triumphed with Dynamo Moscow and remains the only goalkeeper ever to win the award, though Ukrainians Dynamo Kyiv were more successful with two victories.
- Club: Dynamo Moscow, Dynamo Kyiv
- Number of wins: 3
- Player: Lev Yashin, Oleg Blokhin, Igor Belanov
Ligue 1
Jean-Pierre Papin was Ligue 1's first winner thanks to his performances with Marseille in 1991.
- Clubs: Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille
- Number of wins: 2
- Players: Lionel Messi, Jean-Pierre Papin
MLS
Did Messi's performances for Inter Miami win him the 2023 Ballon d'Or? No. Was he at David Beckham's franchise when he lifted the iconic trophy for a record-breaking eighth time? Hell to the yeah.
- Clubs: Inter Miami
- Number of wins: 1
- Players: Lionel Messi
Czechoslovak First League
Josef Masopust of Dukla Prague is the sole representative from the Czechoslovak First League, a division he won eight times.
He led Czechoslovakia to third place at the 1960 Euros and runners-up at the 1962 World Cup.
- Club: Dukla Prague
- Number of wins: 1
- Player: Josef Masopust
Hungarian League
Florian Albert is a Hungarian football legend who won the Ballon d'Or in 1967 while at Ferencvaros, where he spent all of his professional career.
In 1967, he won the Hungarian league title and and also collected the Hungarian Player of the Year title.
- Club: Ferencvaros
- Number of wins: 1
- Player: Florian Albert
Eredivisie
Ajax fans could easily claim Johan Cruyff's two further Ballon d'Or wins with Barcelona as their own, but alas, we find no room for such sentiment.
Cruyff's win remains the Dutch club's only Ballon d'Or winner, though Dennis Bergkamp and Jari Litmanen later finished in the top three of voting.
- Club: Ajax
- Number of wins: 1
- Player: Johan Cruyff
Primeira Liga
Easily one of the best players in world football during the 1960s, Eusebio was ridiculously prolific for both Benfica and Portugal.
He scooped the award in 1965 and was also a runner up in both 1962 and 1966.
- Club: Benfica
- Number of wins: 1
- Player: Eusebio
Who has won the Ballon d'Or the most?
Lionel Messi is the most accomplished player in the history of the Ballon d'Or, scooping the award on eight separate occasions. He extended his lead over long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo to three in 2023, with Ronaldo in second with five wins.
Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten are each three-time winners, while Franz Beckenbauer, Ronaldo, Alfredo Di Stefano, Kevin Keegan and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge are also multi-time winners.