Ballon d’Or Explained: What Does It Take to Win Football’s Biggest Individual Award?

What is the Ballon d’Or, how is the winner chosen, and why does football’s biggest individual award create so much debate every year?

Every football fan has had this conversation at some point. Who is the best player in the world? It sounds like a simple question until you actually try to answer it. One player may have scored the most goals. Another may have won every possible trophy with his club. Then there is the player who might not have the best numbers but controlled almost every game he played.

So, how do you choose just one? That is exactly why the Ballon d’Or exists. Created by France Football in 1956, the Ballon d’Or is one of the most prestigious individual awards in football. The first player to win it was England’s Stanley Matthews. Since then, the trophy has been lifted by some of the biggest names the game has ever seen. But the award is not as simple as giving the trophy to whoever scores the most goals.

There is a process behind it, and that process is one of the reasons why the Ballon d’Or creates so much discussion every year.

So, How Is the Ballon d’Or Winner Decided?

The Ballon d’Or is not decided by fans voting online. Instead, football journalists from selected countries vote for the players they believe had the best season. The journalists are given a list of nominees and rank their preferred players. Points are awarded based on those rankings, and the player with the highest number of points wins the Ballon d’Or.

But then comes the bigger question: what exactly makes a player deserving of the award? Individual performances are obviously important. Goals, assists, consistency, and performances in big matches can all strengthen a player’s case. However, team achievements also play a role. This is why the award is rarely free from controversy.

Imagine two players having completely different seasons. One scores 50 goals but finishes the season without a major trophy. Another scores fewer goals but plays a key role in winning the Champions League and a domestic league. So, who deserves the Ballon d’Or? There is no answer that everyone will agree with.

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Has the Ballon d’Or Always Worked This Way?

The Ballon d’Or we know today is very different from the one that began in 1956. When the award was first introduced, it was only open to European players. That changed in 1995, when players from other parts of the world became eligible, provided they played for a European club. Then came another major change in 2007, when the award became open to players from anywhere in the world, regardless of where they played.

The way performances are judged has changed too. For many years, the award was based on a calendar year. Since 2022, however, the Ballon d’Or has been based on a football season. That might sound like a small change, but it makes judging performances much more straightforward. Instead of splitting a player’s campaign between two different seasons, voters can now look at the entire season as one complete story.

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Why Does Winning the Ballon d’Or Matter So Much?

Football will always be a team sport. Even the best player in the world needs teammates around him. A striker needs someone to create chances. A midfielder needs players making the right runs. A goalkeeper depends on the defenders in front of him. That is why individual awards in football are always complicated. Still, the Ballon d’Or gives players recognition for what they achieved during a particular season. Over time, winning the trophy has also become an important part of a player’s legacy.

When we talk about players like Johan Cruyff, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, or Cristiano Ronaldo, their Ballon d’Or wins are part of their story. The trophy alone does not decide whether someone is a great player. But it does show how they were viewed during their time.

Does the Best Player Always Win?

And this is where the argument begins again. The Ballon d’Or has had winners that almost everyone agreed with. It has also had winners that divided the entire football world. But perhaps that is exactly what makes the award interesting.

There is no perfect formula for deciding who was the best player in a season. Statistics tell one part of the story. Trophies tell another. What a player does when the pressure is at its highest can tell us something completely different. In the end, one player walks away with the golden trophy, while millions of fans continue debating whether the right decision was made. So, who do you think deserved the Ballon d’Or but never won it? Let us know in the comments.

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