It may be an individual award, but football clubs and their respective fans are very proud of the Ballon d'Or won by players who play for the clubs they support.
Here is a list of the five clubs that have won the most Ballon d'Or:
Madrid overtook Barcelona to become the club with the most Ballon d'Or, while Madrid's 4-time Ballon d'Or winner in 5 years was Cristiano Ronaldo (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017).
Surprisingly, however, they have only equaled Barcelona in the last 4 years, since between 1959 and 2000, there was a gap of 41 years in which no Madrid player won the Ballon d'Or.
Just one year after its establishment, Madrid has won the award for the third time in a row. Di Stefano won in 1957 and 1959, with Raymond Copa sandwiched in the middle, winning in the 58 minutes.
The Ronaldo dynasty has been hugely helpful, but Luis Figo (2000), Brazilians Ronaldo Nazario (2002), Fabio Cannavaro (2006) and, more recently, Luka Modric (2018) and Karim Benzema have equalled Barcelona with victories in the last few years (2022) and Messi has helped Barcelona build a lead.
It's no surprise that Messi's 7 Ballon d'Or awards make all the difference, but 1 of them was won when he played for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, even when he started the calendar year at Barcelona.
Some thought Barcelona had an extra chance, but it was granted during PSG. For the sake of consistency, I have to see it as the only time PSG has won the Ballon d'Or, even if his performance at PSG did not support his victory.
Barça's first Ballon d'Or was won in 1960 by Luis Suarez, Spain's only Ballon d'Or winner. Cruyff won two consecutive titles during his time with the Catalan side, winning in 1973 and 1974. After 20 years of waiting, Hristo Stoichkov (1994) became the only Bulgarian to win the award, which Rivaldo won in 1999 to help Barcelona's Ballon d'Or winner take a 5-3 lead over Real Madrid.
Ronaldinho was the last Barcelona player to win before Messi's dichotomous Ronaldo, and we won the Ballon d'Or in 2005, but soon Messi's era came, with him winning 4 consecutive titles from 2009 to 2012 and 2 more in 2015, in 2019 and 2019.
In the last century, Italy has gone through the best era, with teams of all kinds competitive and with truly world-class talent.
Milan's first player to win was when the United States landed on the moon, and Gianni Rivera was crowned Europe's best player in 1969.
Milan then waited 18 years, but patience paid off well as Milan won three consecutive titles. Ruud Gullit won his first title (1987), followed by Van Basten in 1988 and 1989.
In 1992, "The Swan of Utrecht" added a third work before his retirement.
Just three years later, another Milan player was crowned with their fifth win in eight years, with Liberian George Weah becoming the first African player to lift the trophy. He remains the only African player to win the Ballon d'Or.
Their most recent victor was Kaka, who won in 2007, the last year that Ronaldo and Messi did not finish on the podium at the Ballon d'Or. Kaka later stated that he was the last player to be "born on Earth to win the Ballon d'Or", referring to the Ronaldo and Messi duopoly that occurred in 2007.
Like Milan, Juventus had a lot of Ballon d'Or success in the 80s and was in charge of the Ballon d'Or from 1982 to 1985.
However, their first championship was brought in 1961 by Argentine-born Omar Sivori. It wasn't until 1982 that their players won the title again, and four in a row. Paul Rossi won the quadruple, followed by Michel Platini as the first treble; Do it somehow, get 3 wins in ** and take it home in 1983, 1984 and 1985.
The next "holy ponytail" came in 1993, after which Zidane's World Cup masterclass helped him win his first and only Ballon d'Or in 1998.
Pavel Nedved (P**el Nedved) was the most recent winner, and the 2003 award surprised many, including himself. Speaking of the award, he said: "I am very happy. I don't think I'd beat Thierry Henry, Paolo Maldini or Zinedine Zidane, if I had to vote, I would vote for Thierry and the other players on the podium. ”
Finally, Bayern Munich has 3 wins each by 5 players in their history. The first was the prolific Gerd Müller, who became the first German to receive the award. In 1972, he became the first defender to win the award, ahead of Franz Beckenbauer. Just four years later, Franz Beckenbauer became the first and only defender to win the award twice.
Bayern went on to win the Ballon d'Or, winning two more Ballon d'Ors, this time with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, an impressive 5 Ballon d'Or in 11 years. The German league was particularly strong during this period, as the Bundesliga hosted a total of eight victories between 1970 and 1981, before the start of Italian rule.
Bayern Munich has not had a single player win the Ballon d'Or since 1981, although many believe Robert Lewandowski deserved it in the cancelled 2020 and 2021 Ballon d'Or.