Most Ballon d’Or winners by football clubs

A host of elite players have won this accolade in the history of this beautiful game.

The Ballon d’Or is like a treasure chest for every ambitious footballer over the years, as winning it validates that player as one of the best in the history of the game. Since French magainze France Football started to give away the award from 1956, a number of bonified legends have won the trophy to script their name among the elite.

While the players themselves are responsible for winning the award, with their performances on the pitch but also the team’s they represent often play a big role over their win. Thanks to their team’s powerful backing, almost every season a footballer from among the ‘European elites’ win the trophy – with ‘the underdogs’ side rarely witnessing their star be glittered with it.

More than 50 Ballon d’Or awards have been distributed in recent years and with the magazine confirming it won’t distribute one this year, we look at the most Ballon d’Or winners by football clubs.

10. Ajax - 1

Despite boasting one of the best football academies in the world and being breeding ground to some of the revolutionary football talents in history, Ajax have only had one player to win the Ballon d’Or title. Unsurprisingly, it was the great Johan Cruyff in 1971 – the season he played a big role over helping them win the European Cup (Champions League). Cruyff scored 17 goals and picked up seven assists in just 22 games that season, so it’s no real surprise why he won it.

9. Hamburg - 2

Hamburg were one of Germany’s formidable forces in the late 1970s and at the forefront of their dominance was the brilliant Kevin Keegan, who maintained his excellent work even after leaving Liverpool. Keegan won back-to-back Ballon d’Or titles in 1978 & 1979 with the German side, even winning them the Bundesliga title in 1978-79. The silky centre-forward scored many goals during that period and produced some irresistible football that convinced the French Football jury to give him back-to-back trophies.

8. Inter Milan - 2

Inter Milan have been one of the traditional giants of Italian football, boasting a lot of success through their bright 100+year old history. But only two Inter players have won the Ballon d’Or, with the first one coming when Lothar Matthaus won it in 1990. Ronaldo Nazario then won it in 1997, but ironically both players’ win was more influenced thanks to their work elsewhere.

Matthaus got the trophy for his excellent work in Germany’s FIFA World Cup triumph, while Ronaldo got it over his influence to help Barcelona win the Copa Del Rey and UEFA Cup Winners Cup in the 1996-97 season.

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7. Dynamo Kyiv - 2

Dynamo Kyiv were a formidable team in Europe during the 70s and 80s and saw two of their players win the Ballon d’Or in each decade in rather surprising fashion. Ukranian legend Oleg Blokhin won the trophy for scoring 28 goals in 42 appearances in the 1974-75 season and helping Kyiv win the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. The winner from Kyiv in 1986 was legendary midfielder Igor Belanov, who 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 home to some of the greatest #7’s in football history so it’s no surprise that half of their Ballon d’Or winners have been outstanding wingers. The first winner for them was striker Denis Law in 1964 after scoring 46 goals in 42 appearances for the Red Devils in the 1963-64 campaign! Bobby Charlton then won it in 1966, mostly thanks to his exceptional influence over helping England win the FIFA World Cup that year.

George Best then rounded up a set of wins for the ‘United Trinity’ in 1968 after scoring 32 goals in all competitions and playing a huge role over helping United win their first-ever European Cup (Champions League). Cristiano Ronaldo then won the 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 greatest German club of all time, it’s only fair that Bayern Munich also has the most number of Ballon d’Or winners for a Bundesliga side in history. Their five ballon D’or winners are split between three German icons - Gerd Muller, Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. Muller was the club’s first ever Ballon d’Or winner in 1970, the season he scored 52 goals – including 10 in the World Cup for Germany! 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 scoring 75 goals combined in two seasons and helping the Bavarians to back-to-back Bundesliga titles.

4. AC Milan - 8

While they might’ve fallen into hard times over the last decade or so, AC Milan have always been recognized as one of Europe’s pure giants who have produced some of the best players in football history. As a result, they’ve had eight Ballon d’Or winners in the past, with the first being Gianni Rivera who played a prominent role in their European Cup (Champions League) win in the 1968-69 campaign. The next winner came nearly two decades later in the form of Ruud Gullit, whose heroics 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 then became the only African player in history to win the award in 1995, but that 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 won Serie A and scored 28 goals.

3. Juventus - 8

Juventus are arguably the most successful Italian club in history, so it’s no real surprise that they’ve produced eight Ballon d’Or winners in history. Their first-ever winner was the great Omar Sivori in 1961, but the dominance really started in the early 1980s. 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 operated on another level back then, helping Juve win two Scudettos, a European Cup (Champions League) and averaging more than 25 goals per season from midfield. Juve’s next winner was the divine ponytail Roberto Baggio in 1993 when he helped Juve win the UEFA Cup and scored 30 goals in all competitions.

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 after winning it in 2003 for his majestic performances.

2. Real Madrid - 12

Arguably the greatest football club in history, Real Madrid are surprisingly second in the Ballon d’Or winners’ tally with 11 of their past players having won the title. Three out of the first four Ballon d’Or titles were won by Madrid players, including two by iconic striker Alfredo Di Stefano and one by midfielder Raymond Kopa. But after Di Stefano’s win in 1959, 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 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 icon Cristiano Ronaldo win it 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 excellent work for club and country helped him break the Ronaldo-Messi chain in 2018, with the Croatian being the last Balon d’Or winner from Los Blancos. Karim Benzema won the award in 2022 to tie the El Clasico rivals for the number one spot.

1. FC Barcelona - 12 wins

Piping just over their 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. Johan Cruyff them won it 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 two 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! Another Brazilian wizard Ronaldinho won it in 2004 before the Lionel Messi show 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 soar to the top of this chart.

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** This article was last updated on October 17, 2022.