The Ballon d’Or has been football’s most prestigious individual award since its creation in 1956.

Throughout its history, Barcelona has continually strived to attract the world’s greatest talents to its team. Many sporting greats have worn the Blaugrana jersey, making Barcelona one of the greatest football teams of all time.

No other club in the world has as many Ballon d’Ors as Barcelona. Barça’s biggest rivals, Real Madrid have the same number of male winners with 12; However, the Catalans also have three winners among the women. Barcelona also made history in 2010, when for the first time all three finalists were players from the same team. Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernández, all products of La Masia, share the podium.

Here is a list of all Barcelona players who have ever won the Ballon d’Or.

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Lionel Messi (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019)

The sport’s most decorated player leads the way with his record six Ballon d’Ors for Barcelona, ​​the most for a single club. He is responsible for half of Barca’s men’s Ballon d’Or victories.

Messi added two more after leaving Barcelona in 2021. His eight wins put him three above Cristiano Ronaldo for the most Ballon d’Ors of all time. Messi is the only player to win this award four years in a row, as he won it every year during the Pep Guardiola era at Barcelona.

The greatest player of all time delighted the Camp Nou for a decade and a half, becoming synonymous with sport’s greatest individual award.

Ronaldinho (2005)

The Brazilian won the award after a magical year in 2005 where he guided Barcelona to their first La Liga title of the century.

His natural talent, blazing speed and magical dribbling ability wowed the world and he did it all with the biggest smile on his face. Ronaldinho also won that year’s FIFA Confederations Cup with Brazil and capped his Ballon d’Or winning campaign with a brace against Real Madrid in one of the most magical Clásico performances of the history.

One of the biggest, most recognizable football stars of the 21st century, Ronaldinho’s magic reached its peak in 2005.

Rivaldo (1999)

Rivaldo became the second Brazilian to win the Ballon d’Or in 1999, guiding the Catalans to back-to-back La Liga titles.

Perhaps today one of the lesser-known players in the Brazil team that appeared in three consecutive FIFA World Cup finals, Rivaldo was a key part of the Seleçao in 1998 and 2002.

During his Ballon d’Or winning season, he was the difference in Louis van Gaal’s Barcelona team that won the championship. With Brazil, he won the 1999 Copa América, winning the tournament’s best player award.

One of the best Brazilian players of all time did not lack the quality and magic of his contemporaries. He won the prize against David Beckham and Andrei Shevshenko and three years later he conquered the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Christo Stoichkov (1994)

Part of Barcelona’s “Dream Team” which won four consecutive La Liga titles and the club’s first Champions League in 1992 under Dutch manager Johan Cruyff, Stoichkov was one of the best strikers of the 90s.

1994 was his best year. He scored a brace and assisted in the final match of the 1998-99 La Liga to give Barcelona the title and played a key role in the Blaugrana’s return to the Champions League final.

The 1994 World Cup was his most memorable moment. He was the tournament’s top scorer with six goals and guided Bulgaria to a fourth place finish, the country’s best result in the competition.

Temperamental, powerful and deadly in front of goal, Stoichkov will forever be part of Barcelona’s rich history as one of their greatest strikers of all time.

Johan Cruyff (1973 and 1974)

There is perhaps no more influential figure in Barcelona than Johan Cruyff.

He arrived as a player to help Barcelona emerge from the shadow of Real Madrid and won the championship in his first season, the first in 14 years.

Cruyff won his second and third Ballon d’Or in his first two years at Barcelona, ​​having won his first in 1971 at Ajax. In 1974, he was the leader of the Netherlands team that lost in the World Cup final to Germany, one of the greatest national teams ever assembled that failed to lift the greatest trophy in sport.

Cruyff is considered one of the greatest players of all time, but his influence at Barcelona runs even deeper. As a coach, he guided the Blaugrana to their first European trophy and is considered the person who established Barcelona’s possession-based attacking style, which was later emulated by their greatest prodigy: Pep Guardiola.

Despite being one of only five players to have won the Ballon d’Or more than twice, he made his feelings about the award very well known with one of his most iconic quotes: “Ballon d’Or? A group of journalists and people voting for their friends.”

Luis Suarez (1960)

Not to be confused with the Uruguayan striker, Luis Suárez remains the only Spanish-born player to have won a men’s Ballon d’Or.

Luis Suárez Miramontes is the fifth player to win this award and the first in Barcelona’s history. He won the championship that year and received the prize against Real Madrid great Ferenc Puskás.

He guided Barcelona to a European final where the Catalans fell to Benfica; However, Suárez would win the continental trophy later in his career when he joined Inter Milan, a club where he became a legend.

Aitana Bonmati (2023)

Bonmatí had a spectacular 2023 winning every competition she entered with Barcelona and Spain.

With Barcelona, ​​she won a treble, winning the Spanish Super Cup, La Liga and Champions League titles as the team’s centerpiece. She led the way with three goals and two assists in Spain’s World Cup victory, where she won the player of the tournament award.

Bonmatí, one of the greatest talents women’s football has ever known, won the award at just 25 years old and is one of the favorites to win it again this year, as she continues to demonstrate that she is the best player in women’s football. the planet.

Alexia Putellas (2021 & 2022)

Putellas played a fundamental role in Barcelona’s first ever WCL title in 2021. Her 26 goals guided Barcelona to their first ever women’s treble.

In 2022, she was just as formidable, but an ACL injury ended her season mid-year. However, the talent she showed in the first half of the season was enough for her to become the first woman to win the Ballon d’Or in consecutive years.

She was part of the Barcelona team that won four titles in 2024, including a third WCL in four years.

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