3 Countries with the most Ballon d'Or winners

#2 Italy - 5 players, 5 victories

FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala 2012 - former winner Fabio Cannavaro hands over the trophy to Lionel Messi

Italy has had the same amount of winners as the number one country on this list, but their number of victories places them second on this list. There have been five winners from Italy, and each player has won the trophy once.

The first Italian player to win the Ballon d'Or was Omar Sivori in 1961. Sivori was a world-class forward who represented both Argentina and Italy on the national stage. The Argentine-born forward moved to Italy in 1957, and he was banned by his country to participate in the 1958 World Cup. He became a citizen of Italy after this debacle, and therefore his victory is credited to the European country.

In order, the other four Italians to win this award are - Gianni Rivera, Paolo Rossi, Roberto Baggio, and Fabio Cannavaro. Cannavaro's victory is unique, as he is the only defender apart from Franz Beckenbauer to win the award. He was also the last Italian to win the award when he received the honour in 2006 for playing a major role in Italy's World Cup victory this year.