The Ballon d'Or is now regarded as the most prestigious individual prize in soccer, crowning the best player in the world each year.
But it hasn’t always been a truly global award.
Launched in 1956 as the , the prize was initially reserved only for European players. It wasn’t until 1995 that non-Europeans based at European clubs became eligible, and only in 2007 did the award finally open up to every player worldwide.
As a result, entire generations of non-European greats were overlooked for the Ballon d’Or, while others who were eligible never quite had their moment despite being among the best of their era.
For this list, we’ve focused only on players whose careers are complete. Current stars such as Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, and Vinícius Júnior—already on track to become legends—are not included, nor are others who still have time to win the prize.
