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FIFA Ballon d'Or

Award for association football players


Award for association football players

FieldValue
nameFIFA Ballon d'Or
imageFIFA Ballon d'Or, Lionel Messi 2010.jpg
captionFIFA Ballon d'Or awarded to Messi in 2010
sportAssociation football
givenforBest performing player of the calendar year
first2010
number6
last2015
mostwinsARG Lionel Messi
(4 awards)
url
Note

the FIFA award issued between 2010 and 2015

(4 awards) The FIFA Ballon d'Or ("Golden Ball") was an annual association football award presented to the world's best men's player from 2010 to 2015. Awarded jointly by FIFA and France Football, the prize was a merger of the FIFA World Player of the Year award and the Ballon d'Or, the two most prestigious individual honours in world football. Unlike the Ballon d'Or awarded by France Football, the FIFA Ballon d'Or, was not awarded solely based on votes from international journalists, but votes from national team coaches and captains also, who selected the players they deemed to have performed the best in the previous calendar year.

The six editions of the FIFA Ballon d'Or were dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as part of their ongoing rivalry.

Messi, who played for Barcelona, won the inaugural Ballon d'Or in 2010 and went on to win three in a row, after his wins in 2011 and 2012. Ronaldo, who played for Real Madrid, won successive awards in the next two years. The final FIFA Ballon d'Or was presented to Messi in 2015. Its awarding bodies subsequently ended their partnership; for 2016, France Football reintroduced the previous format of the Ballon d'Or, while FIFA created The Best FIFA Men's Player award.

History

Historically, the leading individual awards in association football were the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award. The original Ballon d'Or, also known as the European Footballer of the Year award, had been awarded by the French publication France Football since 1956. The FIFA World Player of the Year award was presented by FIFA, the sport's governing body, from 1991.

From 2005, the winners of the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award were identical each year. Following the introduction of a global Ballon d'Or format in 2007, France Football and FIFA opted to merge the two awards. The creation of the FIFA Ballon d'Or was subsequently announced during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The inaugural award was presented that same year to the Argentine Lionel Messi.

After a six-year partnership, France Football and FIFA terminated the joint award. Lionel Messi had received the final FIFA Ballon d'Or. For historical purposes, both awarding bodies regard the six editions of the FIFA Ballon d'Or as a continuation of their respective awards.

Voting

The winners of the FIFA Ballon d'Or were chosen by international journalists and the coaches and captains of the national teams under FIFA's jurisdiction. In a system based on positional voting, each voter was allotted three votes, worth five points, three points and one point, and the three finalists were ordered based on total number of points. Voters were provided with a shortlist of 23 players from which they could select the three players they deemed to have performed the best in the previous calendar year.

Winners

YearRankPlayerTeamVotes
20101stARG Lionel MessiESP Barcelona22.65%
2ndESP Andrés IniestaESP Barcelona17.36%
3rdESP XaviESP Barcelona16.48%
20111stARG Lionel MessiESP Barcelona47.88%
2ndPOR Cristiano RonaldoESP Real Madrid21.60%
3rdESP XaviESP Barcelona9.23%
20121stARG Lionel MessiESP Barcelona41.60%
2ndPOR Cristiano RonaldoESP Real Madrid23.68%
3rdESP Andrés IniestaESP Barcelona10.91%
20131stPOR Cristiano RonaldoESP Real Madrid27.99%
2ndARG Lionel MessiESP Barcelona24.72%
3rdFRA Franck RibéryGER Bayern Munich23.36%
20141stPOR Cristiano RonaldoESP Real Madrid37.66%
2ndARG Lionel MessiESP Barcelona15.76%
3rdGER Manuel NeuerGER Bayern Munich15.72%
20151stARG Lionel MessiESP Barcelona41.33%
2ndPOR Cristiano RonaldoESP Real Madrid27.76%
3rdBRA NeymarESP Barcelona7.86%

Wins by player

#PlayerWinnerRunner-upThird place
1'*ARG Lionel Messi{{refngroup=noteFIFA and *France Football'' credit Messi, the recipient of the 2009 Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award, with six Ballons d'Or in total (2009–12, 2015, 2019). Messi additionally placed as a finalist for both awards in 2007 and 2008.4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015)2 (2013, 2014)
2POR Cristiano Ronaldo2 (2013, 2014)3 (2011, 2012, 2015)
3ESP Andrés Iniesta1 (2010)1 (2012)
4ESP Xavi2 (2010, 2011)
5FRA Franck Ribéry1 (2013)
GER Manuel Neuer1 (2014)
BRA Neymar1 (2015)

Wins by country

#CountryWinnerRunner-upThird place
1Argentina4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015)2 (2013, 2014)
2Portugal2 (2013, 2014)3 (2011, 2012, 2015)
3Spain1 (2010)3 (2010, 2011, 2012)
4France1 (2013)
Germany1 (2014)
Brazil1 (2015)

Wins by club

#ClubWinnerRunner-upThird place
1ESP Barcelona4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015)3 (2010, 2013, 2014)4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015)
2ESP Real Madrid2 (2013, 2014)3 (2011, 2012, 2015)
3GER Bayern Munich2 (2013, 2014)

FIFA Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur

In 2013, Brazilian forward Pelé was given an honorary Ballon d'Or, having won three FIFA World Cups with Brazil but never an individual award from FIFA, as during his playing career only Europe-based players were eligible to win the original Ballon d'Or.

References

;Notes

;Citations

References

  1. (5 July 2010). "World Cup 2010: Fifa and Ballon d'Or player awards to be merged". The Daily Telegraph.
  2. Wahl, Grant. (15 September 2010). "Xavi, Messi are primary contenders for the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or".
  3. (10 January 2011). "Argentina's Lionel Messi wins Fifa Ballon d'Or award". BBC Sport.
  4. (16 September 2016). "Ballon d'Or: FIFA ends association with world player of the year award". BBC Sport.
  5. "Rules of allocation". FIFA.
  6. Pierrend, José Luis. (12 February 2015). "FIFA Awards: World Player of the Year". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  7. (21 January 2011). "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or")". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  8. (13 January 2014). "Pele receives FIFA Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur". FIFA.
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