‘You can win Ballon d’Or without winning a trophy’ — Organisers confirm

The organisers of the Ballon d’Or have confirmed that players can win football’s most prestigious individual prize without lifting a team trophy during the season, although the feat has been achieved only six times in the award’s history.

Ahead of the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony scheduled for October 26 in London, organisers in an article on Monday revisited the history of the award as debate continues over the credentials required to claim the honour.

According to the Ballon d’Or, the first player to win the award without a team title was Stanley Matthews in 1956, when he claimed the inaugural edition despite finishing the year without silverware.

Since then, only Denis Law (1964), Gerd Müller (1970), Kevin Keegan (1978), Luis Figo (2000) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2013) have achieved the same feat.

Ronaldo remains the most recent player to win the Ballon d’Or without lifting a team trophy, making it 11 editions since the last occurrence.

The organisers also noted that no female player has won the Women’s Ballon d’Or without a team title since the award was introduced in 2018.

This year’s ceremony will crown the 70th men’s Ballon d’Or winner and the eighth women’s Ballon d’Or recipient in London.