FIFA Ballon d'Or

Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Lionel Messi, pictured here in 2011, dominated the award.

The FIFA Ballon d'Or (French pronunciation: ​[balɔ̃ dɔʁ], "Golden Ball") was an annual association football award presented to the world's best men's player from 2010 to 2015. A merger between France Football's Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award, it was considered the most prestigious individual honour in world football. The FIFA Ballon d'Or was awarded based on votes from international journalists and national team coaches and captains, 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. Barcelona's Messi won the inaugural Ballon d'Or in 2010, before retaining the title twice. Ronaldo, who plays 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 their Ballon d'Or award and FIFA created the The Best FIFA Football Awards.

Background

FIFA President Sepp Blatter holds up the agreement creating the FIFA Ballon d'Or in Johannesburg.

Historically, the leading individual awards in association football were the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award.[1][2] 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.[3]

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.[3] The inaugural award was presented that same year to the Argentine Lionel Messi.[4]

After a six-year partnership, France Football and FIFA terminated the joint award. Lionel Messi had received the final FIFA Ballon d'Or.[5] For historical purposes, both awarding bodies regard the six editions of the FIFA Ballon d'Or as a continuation of their respective awards.[6][7]

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.[3] 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.[8]

Winners

Year First place Second place Third place
2010 Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Spain Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) Spain Xavi (Barcelona)
2011 Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Spain Xavi (Barcelona)
2012 Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Spain Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
2013 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) France Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich)
2014 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Germany Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
2015 Argentina Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Brazil Neymar (Barcelona)

Wins by player

# Player First place Second place Third place
1 Argentina Lionel Messi[note 1] 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015) 2 (2013, 2014) 0
2 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo[note 2] 2 (2013, 2014) 3 (2011, 2012, 2015) 0
3 Spain Andrés Iniesta 0 1 (2010) 1 (2012)
4 Spain Xavi[note 3] 0 0 2 (2010, 2011)
5 France Franck Ribéry 0 0 1 (2013)
Germany Manuel Neuer 0 0 1 (2014)
Brazil Neymar 0 0 1 (2015)

Wins by country

# Country First place Second place Third place
1  Argentina 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015) 2 (2013, 2014) 0
2  Portugal 2 (2013, 2014) 3 (2011, 2012, 2015) 0
3  Spain 0 1 (2010) 3 (2010, 2011, 2012)
4  France 0 0 1 (2013)
 Germany 0 0 1 (2014)
 Brazil 0 0 1 (2015)

Wins by club

# Club First place Second place Third place
1 Spain Barcelona 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015) 3 (2010, 2013, 2014) 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015)
2 Spain Real Madrid 2 (2013, 2014) 3 (2011, 2012, 2015) 0
3 Germany Bayern Munich 0 0 2 (2013, 2014)

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FIFA Ballon d'Or.

References

Notes
  1. ↑ FIFA and France Football credit Messi, the recipient of the 2009 Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award, with five Ballons d'Or in total.[6][7] Messi additionally placed as a finalist for both awards in 2007 and 2008.[9][10]
  2. ↑ FIFA and France Football credit Ronaldo, the recipient of the 2008 Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award, with three Ballons d'Or in total.[6][7] Ronaldo additionally placed as a finalist for both awards in 2007 and 2009.[9][10]
  3. ↑ Xavi additionally placed in third place for the 2009 Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award.[9][10]
Citations
  1. ↑ "World Cup 2010: Fifa and Ballon d'Or player awards to be merged". The Daily Telegraph. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Wahl, Grant (15 September 2010). "Xavi, Messi are primary contenders for the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "The FIFA Ballon d'Or is born". FIFA. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "Argentina's Lionel Messi wins Fifa Ballon d'Or award". BBC Sport. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "Ballon d'Or: FIFA ends association with world player of the year award". BBC Sport. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 "FIFA Ballon d'Or: History". FIFA. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 "Ballon d'Or Palmarès: La liste complête des lauréats du Ballon d'or, de 1956 à nos jours" [Ballon d'Or Winners: The full list of the winners of the Ballon d'Or, from 1956 to our days]. France Football. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Rules of allocation" (pdf). FIFA. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 Pierrend, José Luis (12 February 2015). "FIFA Awards: World Player of the Year". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 Moore, Rob; Stokkermans, Karel (21 January 2011). "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or")". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 15 January 2016.

External links

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