FIFA Ballon d'Or

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FIFA Ballon d'Or
FIFA Ballon d'Or, Lionel Messi 2010.jpg
FIFA Ballon d'Or awarded to Messi in 2010
SportAssociation football
Awarded forBest performing player of the calendar year
History
First award2010
Editions6
Final award2015
Most wins Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi
(4 awards)

The FIFA Ballon d'Or ("Golden Ball") was an annual association football award presented to the world's best men's player from 2010 to 2015. Awarded jointly by FIFA and France Football , the prize was a merger of the FIFA World Player of the Year award and the Ballon d'Or, the two most prestigious individual honours in world football. Unlike the Ballon d'Or awarded by France Football, the FIFA Ballon d'Or, was not awarded based on votes from international journalists, but votes from national team coaches and captains, who selected the players they deemed to have performed the best in the previous calendar year.

Contents

The six editions of the FIFA Ballon d'Or were dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as part of their ongoing rivalry.

Messi, who played for Barcelona, won the inaugural Ballon d'Or in 2010 and went on to win three in a row, after his wins in 2011 and 2012. Ronaldo, who played 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 the previous format of the Ballon d'Or, while FIFA created The Best FIFA Men's Player award.

History

FIFA President Sepp Blatter holds up the agreement creating the FIFA Ballon d'Or in Johannesburg in July 2010. Sepp Blatter at signing of agreement creating FIFA Ballon d'Or in Johannesburg 2010-07-05 2.jpg
FIFA President Sepp Blatter holds up the agreement creating the FIFA Ballon d'Or in Johannesburg in July 2010.

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

YearRankPlayerTeamVotes
2010 1st Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona 22.65%
2nd Flag of Spain.svg Andrés Iniesta Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona 17.36%
3rd Flag of Spain.svg Xavi Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona 16.48%
2011 1st Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona 47.88%
2nd Flag of Portugal.svg Cristiano Ronaldo Flag of Spain.svg Real Madrid 21.60%
3rd Flag of Spain.svg Xavi Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona 9.23%
2012 1st Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona 41.60%
2nd Flag of Portugal.svg Cristiano Ronaldo Flag of Spain.svg Real Madrid 23.68%
3rd Flag of Spain.svg Andrés Iniesta Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona 10.91%
2013 1st Flag of Portugal.svg Cristiano Ronaldo Flag of Spain.svg Real Madrid 27.99%
2nd Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona 24.72%
3rd Flag of France.svg Franck Ribéry Flag of Germany.svg Bayern Munich 23.36%
2014 1st Flag of Portugal.svg Cristiano Ronaldo Flag of Spain.svg Real Madrid 37.66%
2nd Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona 15.76%
3rd Flag of Germany.svg Manuel Neuer Flag of Germany.svg Bayern Munich 15.72%
2015 1st Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona 41.33%
2nd Flag of Portugal.svg Cristiano Ronaldo Flag of Spain.svg Real Madrid 27.76%
3rd Flag of Brazil.svg Neymar Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona 7.86%

Wins by player

#PlayerWinnerRunner-upThird place
1 Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi [note 1] 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015)2 (2013, 2014)—
2 Flag of Portugal.svg Cristiano Ronaldo [note 2] 2 (2013, 2014)3 (2011, 2012, 2015)—
3 Flag of Spain.svg Andrés Iniesta —1 (2010)1 (2012)
4 Flag of Spain.svg Xavi [note 3] ——2 (2010, 2011)
5 Flag of France.svg Franck Ribéry ——1 (2013)
Flag of Germany.svg Manuel Neuer ——1 (2014)
Flag of Brazil.svg Neymar ——1 (2015)

Wins by country

#CountryWinnerRunner-upThird place
1Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015)2 (2013, 2014)—
2Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 2 (2013, 2014)3 (2011, 2012, 2015)—
3Flag of Spain.svg  Spain —1 (2010)3 (2010, 2011, 2012)
4Flag of France.svg  France ——1 (2013)
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany ——1 (2014)
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil ——1 (2015)

Wins by club

#ClubWinnerRunner-upThird place
1 Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015)3 (2010, 2013, 2014)4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015)
2 Flag of Spain.svg Real Madrid 2 (2013, 2014)3 (2011, 2012, 2015)—
3 Flag of Germany.svg Bayern Munich ——2 (2013, 2014)

FIFA Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur

In 2013, Brazilian forward Pelé was given an honorary Ballon d'Or, having won three FIFA World Cups with Brazil but never an individual award from FIFA, as during his playing career only Europe-based players were eligible to win the original Ballon d'Or. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

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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 six Ballons d'Or in total (2009–12, 2015, 2019). [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 five Ballons d'Or in total (2008, 2013–14, 2016–17). [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. Archived from the original on 2022-01-12. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Wahl, Grant (15 September 2010). "Xavi, Messi are primary contenders for the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "The FIFA Ballon d'Or is born". FIFA. 5 July 2010. Archived from the original on January 15, 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "Argentina's Lionel Messi wins Fifa Ballon d'Or award". BBC Sport. 10 January 2011. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "Ballon d'Or: FIFA ends association with world player of the year award". BBC Sport. 16 September 2016. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 "FIFA Ballon d'Or: History". FIFA. Archived from the original on November 5, 2014. 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. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Rules of allocation" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 12, 2016. 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. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. 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. Archived from the original on 19 May 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "Pele receives FIFA Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur". FIFA. 13 January 2014. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014.
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