1956 - Stanley Matthews (England)

1957 - Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain)

1958 - Raymond Kopa (France)

1959 - Alfredo di Stefano (Spain)

1960 - Luis Suarez (Spain)

1961 - Omar Sivori (Italy)

1962 - Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia)

1963 - Lev Yashin (Soviet Union)

1964 - Denis Law (Scotland)

1965 - Eusebio (Portugal)

1966 - Bobby Charlton (England)

1967 - Florian Albert (Hungary)

1968 - George Best (Northern Ireland)

1969 - Gianni Rivera (Italy)

1970 - Gerd Mueller (West Germany)

1971 - Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)

1972 - Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)

1973 - Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)

1974 - Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)

1975 - Oleg Blokhin (Soviet Union)

1976 - Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany)

1977 - Allan Simonsen (Denmark)

1978 - Kevin Keegan (England

1979 - Kevin Keegan (England)

1980 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany)

1981 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany)

1982 - Paolo Rossi (Italy)

1983 - Michel Platini (France)

1984 - Michel Platini (France)

1985 - Michel Platini (France)

1986 - Igor Belanov (Soviet Union)

1987 - Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)

1988 - Marco van Basten (Netherlands)

1989 - Marco van Basten (Netherlands)

1990 - Lothar Matthaeus (Germany)

1991 - Jean-Pierre Papin (France)

1992 - Marco van Basten (Netherlands)

1993 - Roberto Baggio (Italy)

1994 - Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)

1995 - George Weah (Liberia)

1996 - Matthias Sammer (Germany)

1997 - Ronaldo (Brazil)

1998 - Zinedine Zidane (France)

1999 - Rivaldo (Brazil)

2000 - Luis Figo (Portugal)

2001 - Michael Owen (England)

2002 - Ronaldo (Brazil)

2003 - Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic)

2004 - Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)

2005 - Ronaldinho (Brazil)

2006 - Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)

2007 - Kaka (Brazil)

2008 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

2009 - Lionel Messi (Argentina)

2010 - Lionel Messi (Argentina) *

2011 - Lionel Messi (Argentina) *

2012 - Lionel Messi (Argentina) *

2013 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) *

2014 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) *

2015 - Lionel Messi (Argentina) *

2016 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

2017 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

* From 2010-2015 the Ballon d'Or was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year to create the FIFA Ballon d'Or award.