Most Ballon d’Or Winners by Football Clubs

 for about almost a century now.

This is a trophy that has been associated with excellence since the 1950s and a lot of legends have had the honor to have their hands on it which is not too many to say the least and that is what makes it special. Even though some claim that it has been reduced down to as a mere popularity contest in recent years, it is still something every top professional wants to etch their names in this awards lore at least once in their prime.

While on paper it is awarded to the best player in a calendar year all across the globe, the ground reality is that only the cream of the top elite clubs in Europe have been in the fray for quite some time and the hegemony seems to be unlikely to be broken anytime soon.  

Many Ballon d’Or awards have been shared in their recent history by the two GOATS  and with the magazine confirming Messi as the winner last year, we look at the most Ballon d’Or winners by football clubs.

10. Ajax - 1

Joaan Cryuff won it 3 times between 1971-1974 for AFC Ajax. He has a much bigger legacy as the father of modern football tactics and being inspiration to many inspirational managers like Pep and Bielsa along with shaping the modern identity of FC Barcelona which is one of the most well recognized football institutes. However, the surprising thing is that despite boasting one of the best youth factories which almost reached the Champions League final not too long ago with their youth products at the core, they have not produced any other player to have won it or it could be that their boon has a double edged sword which results in prospects being snapped up by other giants much earlier.

9. Hamburg - 2

At the fag end of the 70s, Hamburg got hands on the Bundesliga title  thanks to an English import who got not one but two back to back awards impressing the French Jury during his time in Germany. Though he is much more recognized by the modern public as a Liverpool and later on Newcastle United Icon. His silky smooth skills enchanted the Germans and in a time where British footballers rarely ventured abroad, he was truly a pioneer. While the club he called his home has had a mixed bag with it facing everything from European nights to relegation and mid table monotony. 

8. Inter Milan - 2

Lothar Matthus won it in 1990 and R9 Ronaldo got his in 1997 and have both donned the colors of traditional giants of Italy Inter Milan which has a rich history of their own. But both of them got it due to their contributions elsewhere rather than in the blue and black colors of Inter Milan.

Matthaus  was awarded  the trophy for his excellent work in Germany’s FIFA World Cup triumph, while Ronaldo was adjudged the winner due to his influence in helping Barcelona  achieve the cup double of  Copa Del Rey and UEFA Cup Winners Cup in the 1996-97 season.

7. Dynamo Kyiv - 2

Dynamo Kyiv were a team to be feared in Europe during the 70s and 80s and oversaw two of their players lift the Ballon d’Or in each aforementioned decade in a rather interesting way. Ukranian legend Oleg Blokhin won the trophy for scoring 28 goals in 42 appearances in the 1974-75 season and helping Kyiv become the winners of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. The winner in the 80s from Kyiv in 1986 was legendary midfielder Igor Belanov, who co-incidentally also inspired them to Cup Winners’ Cup glory and scored 14 goals in 32 appearances for them.

6. Manchester United - 4

Manchester United have been the breeding ground for some of the Best (pun intended) #7’s in football history so it’s quite fitting for them  that half of their Ballon d’Or winners have been standout wingers for their time and in general. The first Red Devil to win it for them was striker Denis Law in 1964 after scoring 46 goals in 42 appearances for the Red Devils in the 1963-64 campaign! Sir Bobby Charlton then made this trophy his own in 1966, mostly thanks to his now historic run with the national side which helped England win the FIFA World Cup that year.

The enigmatic but short lived genius George Best then rounded up a set of wins for the ‘Trio of United’ in 1968 after scoring 32 goals in all competitions and playing an instrumental role over helping United win their first-ever European Cup (Champions League). Cristiano Ronaldo then won a first of his many Ballon d’Or 40 years later for helping the Red Devils win the European double and scoring 42 goals in all competitions in the 2007-08 season!

5. Bayern Munich - 5

Being the most successful German club of all time, it’s only a foregone conclusion that Bayern Munich would  also have the most number of Ballon d’Or winners for a Bundesliga side in history. Their five ballon D’or winners are shared between three German icons - Gerd Muller, Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. The OG Muller was the club’s first ever Ballon d’Or winner in 1970, the season he scored 52 goals –  which included 10 strikes in the World Cup for Germany! 

The revolutionary sweeper Beckenbauer picked it up in 1972, the season he won the Bundesliga with Bayern and UEFA Euro’s with Germany. Rummenigge then won it on consecutive occasions in 1980 and 1981, after racking up a combined total of 75 goals in two seasons and helping  steer the Bavarians giants to back-to-back Bundesliga titles.

4. AC Milan - 8

AC Milan is a club which has gone through tough times during the past few years but now seems to be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. This is the type of character and club environment which has seen them produce multiple winners over their glittering history. As a result, they’ve had eight Ballon d’Or winners in the past, with the first being Gianni Rivera who played a significant role in their European Cup (Champions League) win way back in the 1968-69 campaign. The next winner came nearly two decades later in the form of a an IRL as well as FUT Icon Ruud Gullit, whose amazing performances for PSV helped him in the award in 1987.

Marco van Basten then won the award in consecutive years in 1988 & 1989, in which he helped Milan win consecutive Champions League titles and scored 40 goals across two campaigns. He then again won it in 1992 for 29 goals in all competitions. George Weah who is considered to be by some among the top 5 best African players ever period then became the only African player in history to win the award in 1995, but ironically it was for his heroics at PSG. Milan’s last Balon d’Or winner was Andriy Shevchenko, who won it in 2004, a season in which he helped the Milan side conquer the Serie A title and scored 28 goals.

3. Juventus - 8

Juventus are arguably the most successful, the most controversial and by opposition fans one of the most hated Italian club in history, so it’s no real surprise that they have been home to eight Ballon d’Or winners in history. Their first-ever winner in their hall of fame was the great Omar Sivori who opened their account in 1961, but their complete chokehold over this prestigious award really began in the early 1980s when Juventus players won four consecutive Ballon d’Or’s from 1982-85, with Paolo Rossi winning one for his brilliance in Italy’s World Cup in 1982 before iconic Frenchman Michel Platini won it three times in a row.

Platini was levels above everyone else during his peak in a league of his own, helping Juve win two Scudettos, a European Cup (Champions League) and averaging more than 25 goals per season that too from midfield in a time when Serie A was notoriously defensive. Juve’s next winner was  Roberto Baggio in 1993 when he helped Juve win the UEFA Cup and scored 30 goals in all competitions.

The artist masquerading as a footballer Zinedine Zidane then won his first Ballon d’Or in 1998 for his outstanding work for club and country, while Pavel Nedved remains the club’s last Ballon d’Or winner winning it for The Old Lady in 2003 for his majestic performances.

2. Real Madrid - 12

Arguably  one of the greatest footballing institutions in history of the sport, Real Madrid are surprisingly second in the Ballon d’Or winners’ tally with 11 of their past players having won the title but almost managed to whitewash their dominance in this category. Three out of the first four Ballon d’Or titles were won by Madrid players, including two by iconic striker Alfredo Di Stefano who bears the name of  their stadium where future Stefanos are made  and one by midfielder Raymond Kopa on whom the Kopa Trophy is named after. However after Di Stefano’s win in 1959, they had to wait for very long as the next Ballon d’Or winner emerged four decades later in the form of Luis Figo in 2000. Even though the reason behind his win was bittersweet as it was the result of his exceptional work for rivals FC Barcelona the season before.

Ronaldo Nazario then won it in 2002, thanks to his exceptional contribution in Brazil’s World Cup win, before Fabio Cannavaro snatched it in 2006 for inspiring Italy’s World Cup success. However, Madrid then saw their greatest modern day Galactico Cristiano Ronaldo win it an unheard four times in the space of five years from 2013-2017 – a period in which he won them multiple Champions League titles, the La Liga and broke many goal-scoring records.

Luka Modric’s sublime orchestra in the middle of the park for Madrid and Croatia helped him break the Ronaldo-Messi deadlock in 2018, with the Croatian being the last Balon d’Or winner from the White side of Madrid. Karim Benzema won it for Los Blancos in 2022 to tie the El Clasico rivals for the number one spot.

1. FC Barcelona - 12

Just managing to get one better of their bitter rivals as the club with the most Ballon d’Or winners in history is FC Barcelona, who have six winners with 12 trophies won in total! The first one came when Uruguayan legend Luis Suarez won it in 1960 after helping Barca win the La Liga and outplaying everyone in the campaign. History repeated itself with him also being part of the famed MSN Trio in the mid 2010s but he did not manage to win that trophy in this incarnation of his. Johan Cruyff, the DNA maker of modern FC Barcelona won it with the Catalan based side consecutively in 1973 and 1974 when he produced some of the best football the club has ever played and helped them win the league in 1973-74.

The next winner came after a wait of two long decades later when Bulgarian winger Hristo Stoichkov won the trophy in 1994 after scoring 24 goals and helping Barca win the league. Brazilian legend Rivaldo won it five years later after helping them to another league and scoring 29 goals in all competitions! Continuing the samba theme, another Brazilian wizard Ronaldinho won it in 2004 before the Lionel Messi era began. As he kept helping them dominate Europe, Messi won the trophy four times in a row from 2009-12, before winning it again in 2015 and 2019 to help Barca reach to the top of this list.

Cover Credits - FC Barcelona