Real Madrid players who have won the Ballon d’Or featuring Modric, Di Stefano, Cristiano Ronaldo but Zidane misses out
With a Real Madrid player in the form of Karim Benzema likely to win the 2022 Ballon d’Or, here is how past Los Blancos players have won the France Football award. Real Madrid list failed to comprise Zinedine Zidane who was very instrumental as a player and coach.
Zidane became the first Real Madrid coach to win the Champions League three times in a row in his initial two and a half seasons that started in January 2016.
This year, the gala is been held on October 17 at the Theatre Chatelet in Paris, as in previous years.
The acclaimed award has had two clear dominators in recent years: since Kaka won it in 2007, Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have shared all the awards, with the exception of the one won in 2018 by Luka Modric, and the one in 2020, when due to the pandemic, France Football strangely considered that the conditions to decide the winner were not fair.
All bets are on Karim Benzema as the new owner of the prestigious trophy. The Frenchman played a key role in the 21/22 season, helping Real Madrid win LaLiga Santander, the Supercopa de Espana and the Champions League with his 44 goals and 15 assists.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is a Ballon d’Or legend. He has won five trophies, one of them with Manchester United in 2008, and the rest with Real Madrid (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017). His goals helped Real Madrid to four Champions League titles. He is the second highest winner, after Lionel Messi’s seven.
Alfredo Di Stefano
Real Madrid’s second highest winner with two awards, in 1957 and 1959. La Saeta was the second player to win the trophy after Stanley Matthews in 1956. Thanks to his dribbling, assists and goals, Real Madrid won the first five European Cups in history between 1956 and 1960.
Ronaldo Nazario
Ronaldo was one of the first non-European players to win the award. The legendary Brazilian striker won his second Ballon d’Or in 2002, when he won the World Cup in Korea and Japan. His first trophy came with Inter in 1998.
Raymond Kopa
A key player in winning the 1958 European Cup, the Frenchman won his only Ballon d’Or in 1958, in between the two won by Di Stefano.
Luis Figo
Signed in 2000 from Barcelona in that controversial deal, he won the title that same year with Real Madrid. He won the Ballon d’Or after leading Barcelona to the Champions League semi-final, scoring 14 goals and providing 17 assists in the 1999/00 season.
Fabio Cannavaro
After winning the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the centre-back won the Ballon d’Or. He overtook his compatriot Buffon and Thierry Henry in the Top 3.
Luka Modric
A Champions League title and reaching the 2018 World Cup final as Croatia’s best player earned Luka Modric the 2018 Ballon d’Or. With Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure from Real Madrid, Luka became an icon of the Merengues and won the trophy ahead of Cristiano and Messi.
