List of Ballon d'Or winners

The Ballon d'Or, an accolade for the world's best footballer, has been awarded since 1956. The first winner was Stanley Matthews from England. Over the years, many notable players have been recognized, including Alfredo Di Stefano from Spain, Raymond Kopa from France, Luis Suarez from Spain, Josef Masopust from Czechoslovakia, Lev Yashin from the Soviet Union, Denis Law from Scotland, Eusebio from Portugal, Bobby Charlton from England, Florian Albert from Hungary, George Best from Northern Ireland, Gianni Rivera from Italy, Gerd Mueller from West Germany, Johan Cruyff from the Netherlands, Franz Beckenbauer from West Germany, Allan Simonsen from Denmark, Kevin Keegan from England, Paolo Rossi from Italy, Michel Platini from France, Igor Belanov from the Soviet Union, Ruud Gullit from the Netherlands, Marco van Basten from the Netherlands, Lothar Matthaus from Germany, Jean-Pierre Papin from France, Roberto Baggio from Italy, Hristo Stoichkov from Bulgaria, George Weah from Liberia, Matthias Sammer from Germany, Ronaldo from Brazil, Zinedine Zidane from France, Rivaldo from Brazil, Luis Figo from Portugal, Ronaldinho from Brazil, Fabio Cannavaro from Italy, Kaka from Brazil, Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, Lionel Messi from Argentina, Luka Modric from Croatia, and most recently, Harry Kane from England.