Ballon d'Or History: How a Magazine Award Went Global
The Ballon d'Or is football's best-known individual award, created by the French magazine France Football in 1956 and presented every year since, apart from 2020. Ballon d'Or history runs from a vote of European journalists to a worldwide jury and a televised gala.
This article follows the Ballon d’Or from its first winner in 1956 to the 70th ceremony in London on 26 October 2026. It covers who was allowed to win, the six years with FIFA, the awards added since 2018, how the vote works today and how the golden ball itself is made.
Key Takeaways
- France Football launched the Ballon d’Or in 1956, an idea credited to its journalist Gabriel Hanot. Stanley Matthews of Blackpool won the first one.
- Until 1995 only European players could win. From 2007 the vote came from a worldwide panel of journalists rather than European ones only.
- From 2010 to 2015 the award merged with FIFA’s World Player of the Year, with joint galas in Zurich. Since 2024 UEFA co-organises it with Groupe Amaury, the owner of France Football.
- The 2020 award was not presented, the only gap in its history.
- The Paris jewellers Mellerio have made the trophy since 1956: about a hundred hours of handwork in brass, gold and pyrite.
In This Article
- Key Takeaways
- Ballon d’Or History: How Did It Begin?
- Who Could Win the Ballon d’Or, and How Did That Change?
- How Did the FIFA Years Change the Ballon d’Or Ceremony?
- Which Awards Joined the Ballon d’Or?
- How Is the Ballon d’Or Winner Chosen Today?
- How Is the Ballon d’Or Trophy Made?
- Ballon d’Or History in Numbers: Records and German Winners
- What Happens at the 2026 Ballon d’Or Ceremony in London?
Ballon d’Or History: How Did It Begin?
The Ballon d’Or history begins in 1956, when France Football asked journalists to name Europe’s best player of the year. According to UEFA, the award was the brainchild of the French journalist Gabriel Hanot.
The first winner was Stanley Matthews of Blackpool. Seventy years later the choice of host city points back to him: UEFA announced in May 2026 that the 70th edition will be held in London, as a tribute to the award’s first winner. The ceremony takes place at the London Palladium.
Between those two dates the award changed more than its name on the invitation. The pool of eligible players widened twice, the jury moved from Europe to the world, FIFA came and went as a partner, and a single prize grew into an evening of more than a dozen trophies.
Who Could Win the Ballon d’Or, and How Did That Change?
For its first four decades the Ballon d’Or was a European award in both senses: European journalists voted, and only European players could win.
1995: players from anywhere, at European clubs
In 1995, as ESPN puts it, the award opened to players from anywhere in the world who played for European clubs. George Weah of Liberia, then at AC Milan, won that first open edition.
2007: a worldwide jury
The next step was the jury. UEFA reported in December 2007 that Kaká’s award was decided by a worldwide representation of 96 journalists, rather than by the earlier poll of European football writers. That is the basis of the jury model still used today: one journalist per country, from the top of the FIFA ranking.
How Did the FIFA Years Change the Ballon d’Or Ceremony?
In 2010 FIFA merged its World Player of the Year with the Ballon d’Or into one award, the FIFA Ballon d’Or. FIFA’s own history says the joint gala was held every year up to 2015. The ceremony moved to Zurich: Lionel Messi received the first FIFA Ballon d’Or there in January 2011, according to UEFA.
The partnership ended after the 2015 award. From 2016 FIFA ran its own prize, The Best FIFA Football Awards, and France Football presented the Ballon d’Or on its own again.
For six years the award was a winter gala in Switzerland. When France Football took it back, the televised ceremony stayed, and it later became the place where the new awards below were added.
Which Awards Joined the Ballon d’Or?
Since 2018 the Ballon d’Or has grown from one trophy into a programme of awards, each named after a former winner or a football figure. UEFA’s guide to the vote lists when each one arrived:
Ada Hegerberg won the first women’s award. The Kopa Trophy is named after Raymond Kopa, the first French winner in 1958, and the Yashin Trophy after Lev Yashin, still the only goalkeeper to win the Ballon d’Or (1963). The coach awards came with the UEFA partnership.
Besides the awards in the table, the 2026 programme has club of the year awards for men and women and the Sócrates Award for social commitment, so every main category now has a men’s and a women’s winner. According to the 2026 nominee announcement, 30 players are nominated for each of the two main awards.
2020: the year without a Ballon d’Or
In July 2020 France Football decided not to present the award. Its editor-in-chief Pascal Ferré told Sky Sports that for the first time since 1956 the Ballon d’Or would “take a break”, because the conditions for the award could not be met in a season interrupted by the pandemic. It is the only year without a winner.
How Is the Ballon d’Or Winner Chosen Today?
A jury of journalists ranks ten players each, and points decide the winner. For the men’s award one journalist votes per country from the top 100 of the FIFA ranking; for the women’s award, from the top 50.
UEFA’s explanation of the vote sets out the rest:
- Criteria: individual performances, team performances and achievements, and class and fair play.
- Points: first place earns 15 points, then 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. A tie goes to the player with more first-place votes.
- Period: the whole season, from August to the following August, rather than a calendar year.
The roles behind the award go back to an agreement announced in November 2023 and in force since the 2024 edition. Under the UEFA and Groupe Amaury partnership, Groupe Amaury owns the Ballon d’Or brand and oversees the voting, which stays independent; UEFA markets the global commercial rights and organises the gala.
How Is the Ballon d’Or Trophy Made?
The golden ball has come from the same house since 1956. Mellerio, the Paris jewellers, say each trophy takes almost a hundred hours of work, begins six months before delivery and follows a method that has not changed.
The steps, as Mellerio describes them:
- A silversmith solders two brass half-spheres into a ball and opens one side so it can sit in the base.
- A chiseller fills the ball with a cement filler and pushes the metal along drawn lines to raise the seams of the 32 panels of a football. This step alone takes about 15 hours.
- The ball is polished, then engraved with the winner’s name, the France Football logo and the year.
- A gilder lays a thin coat of gold over the brass.
- The ball is fixed onto a block of pyrite, a natural mineral, so no two bases are the same.
That last detail matters to anyone who collects or reproduces the trophy. A replica can match the ball’s proportions and its 32 raised panels, but the pyrite base of the original is unique by nature, so licensed reproductions are miniatures of the design rather than copies of one trophy.
Am Ball is now an official licensee of the Ballon d’Or, and its range starts with a metal miniature of the trophy on a keyring, in the Ballon d’Or collection. How licensed miniatures get from artwork to approved sample is covered in our guide to how official trophy replicas are made.
Ballon d’Or History in Numbers: Records and German Winners
Lionel Messi holds the record with eight wins, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo with five. Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten won three each, according to UEFA’s list of all winners.
German players have won seven times:
The most recent winners, in 2025, were Ousmane Dembélé of Paris Saint-Germain and Aitana Bonmatí of Barcelona. Since women’s football got its own Ballon d’Or in 2018, the evening has two headline winners rather than one.
A trophy that has looked the same for seven decades is also why the award works as a collectible. As with the history of the World Cup trophy, the story is part of what fans buy when they buy a miniature.
What Happens at the 2026 Ballon d’Or Ceremony in London?
The 70th Ballon d’Or ceremony takes place on Monday 26 October 2026 at the London Palladium. It is the first time the award is presented in London. The season under review runs from August 2025 to August 2026, so it includes the 2026 World Cup.
Three points set this edition apart:
- The city. London hosts for the first time, chosen in honour of Stanley Matthews.
- The anniversary. The award turns 70, counted from 1956.
- The programme. Men’s and women’s awards run side by side in every main category, with 30 nominees each for the two Ballons d’Or.
Who is nominated for the 2026 Ballon d’Or?
UEFA publishes both shortlists of 30 in alphabetical order, with no ranking. The men’s list opens with Jude Bellingham, Pau Cubarsí, Marc Cucurella, Ousmane Dembélé, Luis Díaz and Bruno Fernandes. The women’s list opens with Selma Bacha, Barbra Banda, Esmee Brugts, Klara Bühl, Mariona Caldentey and Scarlett Camberos. Both full lists, and the nominees for every other award, are on UEFA’s nominee page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the first Ballon d’Or?
Stanley Matthews of Blackpool and England won the first Ballon d’Or in 1956. The 2026 ceremony is held in London as a tribute to him.
Who has won the most Ballons d’Or?
Lionel Messi, with eight wins between 2009 and 2023. Cristiano Ronaldo is second with five.
Is the Ballon d’Or trophy made of gold?
Not solid gold. The ball is made from brass half-spheres, covered with a thin layer of gold and set on a pyrite base, according to the makers, Mellerio.
Why was there no Ballon d’Or in 2020?
France Football decided in July 2020 that a season interrupted by the pandemic could not be judged fairly. It is the only year since 1956 without a winner.
Who organises the Ballon d’Or?
France Football, part of Groupe Amaury, created the award and owns the brand. Since 2024 UEFA co-organises it, runs the gala and markets the commercial rights, while Groupe Amaury oversees the vote.
When and where is the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony?
On Monday 26 October 2026 at the London Palladium in London. It is the 70th edition and the first held in London.
Conclusion: Seventy Years, One Golden Ball
The Ballon d’Or history is one of slow widening: from European players to all players at European clubs, from a European jury to a worldwide one, and from one prize to a full programme for men and women. The trophy is the part that stayed the same, still made by hand in Paris as it was in 1956.
If you are planning licensed collectibles around a trophy, an anniversary or an awards night, talk to our team about licensing and production.
