fantasy football

Top 5 Countries with Highest Number of Ballon d’Or Wins Till Date

Ballon d’Or – for those who doesn’t have the idea about football, this is one of the most prestigious awards for the footballers. Since 1956 this award is being given to the best footballer and French New Magazine are the presenters of this prestigious award. Later the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA named as the FIFA World Player of the Year or FIFA Ballon d’Or. 

Fantasy football players are well aware of the fact that till date Lionel Messi is the one with the highest number of Ballon awards to his name.  Before 1995, it was given only to the European footballers and was known as European Footballer of the Year award. However, later things changed. Now any great player is eligible for the trophy.  

Online fantasy football players are a fan of this trophy. Everyone knows who has won the highest number, but do you know the countries with the highest number of wins? Although Germany is till date the leading country with 5 players winning the award, however, Brazil and Argentina are not far behind. Hard luck that the award was not present at the time of Maradona and Pele. They would have definitely made it to the top then! Check out the blog to know more: 

Germany/ Netherlands/Portugal 

With 7 wins till 2020, these three countries are leading the list. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge won 2 and Franz Beckenbauer won 2, rest are won by many other players. Franz Beckenbauer in the year 1972 raised the cup and from then different players of Germany kept on winning the title. Mattias Sammer is by far the last German player to be won the award in the year 1996. Online fantasy football leagues have gained more popularity because the inclusion of such awards under the name of the players. 

Similarly, from Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo alone managed to win 5 awards in the years (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017). The similar miracle in Netherlands was done by Marco van Basten (1988, 1989, 1992). 

France/ Argentina 

Since this trophy was not present during the times of Maradona, hence Argentina is still stuck in the 2nd position with 6 wins. Michel Platini won 3 times and the rest thrice were contributed by Raymond Kopa, Jean-Pierre Papin and Zinedine Zidane. Competing up with France at the same level is Argentina with a sole player doing miracle for the country. Once Maradona with his godly skills had alone taken the responsibility of getting Argentina a world cup in football. And in the present days Messi has secured 6 Ballon d’Or single handedly! Undoubtedly the most favorite footballer and the most popular one in any online fantasy football game.  

England  

With 5 trophies to the name, England is not very far behind in the run. Although popular for cricket, England also has very talent players whose extra ordinary swings have made the country’s players win Ballon d’Or 5 times till date. The winners of this country are Stanley Matthews (1956), Bobby Charlton (1966), Kevin Keegan (1978, 1979), Michael Owen (2001).  

Italy/ Brazil 

Italy should have been in the same ranking as England with 5 wins in their buckets, however this country has secured the 2nd place 9 times and hence is just a little below in the line. Unlike England all the 5 wins have been secured by 5 different people in the team. The winners here are Omar Sivori (1961), Gianni Rivera (1969), Paolo Rossi (1982), Roberto Baggio (1993), Fabio Cannavaro (2006). With Fabio Cannavaro securing the trophy in 2006, Italy is undoubtedly a fresh country on the list.  

Competing in the same position is Brazil with 5 wins. Ronaldo (1997, 2002), Rivaldo (1999), Ronaldinho (2005), Kaka (2007) – some of the popular names who have taken the fantasy premier leagues by storm presently. The first time Brazilian player won the trophy was in 1997 by Ronaldo. Alas, Brazil had to wait for long. Things would have been different if Pele was still active during this time!  

Spain 

Only 3 wins till date has put Spain at the very end of the list. Alfredo Di Stefano (1957,1959), Luis Suarez (1960) these are the only wins that the country has been able to capture. Unluckily since 1960 till date there’s no potential player to get through the barriers and bring the trophy to the country.  

Read More:
1. 5 Surprising Countries That Will Participate in Future Cricket Leagues
2. Fantasy Football Fact: Top 5 Footballers Unrecognizable by Their Birth Names
3. Fantasy Cricket – Top 10 Whitewashes in Cricket History