Ballon d'Or: How Premier League clubs compare to Real Madrid, Barcelona in all-time rankings

The 2024 Ballon d'Or shortlist was unveiled on September 4, 2024 and the world prepares itself for a first winner in the post-Ronaldo and Messi era. 

Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman was named in the list after his heroics for Atalanta last season, making it the first time since the mid-90s that a Super Eagles player made the list in consecutive years after Victor Osimhen finished eighth last year.

However, while we await Lookman’s final position on the list, conversations among football fans and pundits show that there is a consensus that Real Madrid stars Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham are the favourites, along with Manchester City midfielder Rodri.  

While the Ballon d'Or is primarily an individual award, the winner’s achievements are often intertwined with their club or national team's performance.

For instance, Inter Miami became the first non-European team to have their player claim the coveted award when Lionel Messi won it in 2023. 

In this list, we rank the clubs and league based on the number of winners produced. 

Luis Suárez (1960), Johan Cruyff (1973, 1974), Hristo Stoichkov (1994), Rivaldo (1999), Ronaldinho (2005), Lionel Messi (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019) 

Alfredo di Stefano (1957, 1959), Raymond Kopa (1958), Luis Figo (2000), Ronaldo Nazario (2002), Fabio Cannavaro (2006), Cristiano Ronaldo (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017), Luka Modric (2018), Karim Benzema (2022)

Gianni Rivera (1969), Ruud Gullit (1987), Marco van Basten (1988, 1989, 1992), George Weah (1995), Kaka (2007), and Andriy Shevchenko (2004)

Omar Sivori (1961), Paolo Rossi (1982), Michel Platini (1983, 1984, 1985), Roberto Baggio (1993), Zinedine Zidane (1998), Pavel Nedved (2003),  

Gerd Muller (1970), Franz Beckenbauer (1972, 1976), and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (1980, 1981)

Denis Law (1964), Bobby Charlton (1966), George Best (1968), and Cristiano Ronaldo (2008)

Kevin Keegan (1978, 1979) 

Oleg Blokhin (1975), Igor Belanov (1986)

Lothar Matthaus (1990), Ronaldo Nazario (1997)

Lionel Messi (2021)

Lev Yashin (1967)

Michael Owen (2001)

Josef Masopust (1962)

Eusebio (1965)

Florian Albert (1967)

Johan Cruyff (1971)

Matthias Sammer (1996)

Jean-Pierre Papin (1991)

Allan Simonsen (1967)

Stanley Matthews (1956)

Lionel Messi (2023)

La Liga (24): Thanks to Barcelona and Real Madrid’s dominance, the Spanish top division boasts the highest number of winners of the prestigious award.

Cristiano and Messi account for 10 out of these 24 awards.

Serie A (18): Juventus and AC Milan have produced eight winners each, while Inter Milan contributed two to the quota. 

Bundesliga (9): Four different clubs have produced winners for this award in the German league. While Bayern lead the way with five, Hamburg produced two, while Dortmund and Mochengladbach contributed one each

Premier League (6): While it is the most watched league in the current clime, the PL have produced only six winners, with four of those coming from Manchester United. Blackpool and Liverpool produced one winner each.

Ligue 1 (2): Marseille gave the French league its only winner for a long time until Messi moved to PSG and added a second

Ukrainian Premier League (2): In what could come as a shock to a lot of fans, the Ukranian top division has produced more than one winner, both coming from Dynamo Kyiv. 

Eredivisie (1)

Portuguese Primeira Liga (1)

Czech First League (1)

Russian Premier League (1)

Hugranian Professional League (1)

Major League Soccer (1)