Ballon d'Or: Complete list of men's award winners from 1956 to 2023

The Ballon d'Or is one of the most-coveted annual awards in football, presented by French magazine France Football. Conceived in 1956, the honour is handed to the male player considered to have performed the best over the previous year for both his club and country.

With the 2023 Ballon d'Or award function set to be held at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on Monday (October 30), here's the winners' list from 1956 to 2022:

[Year | Ballon d'Or recipient | Ballon d'Or recipient's club]

1956: Stanley Matthews (Blackpool)

1957: Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)

1958: Raymond Kopa (Real Madrid)

1959: Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)

1960: Luis Suarez (Barcelona)

1961: Omar Sivori (Juventus)

1962: Josef Masopust (Dukla Prague)

1963: Lev Yashin (Dynamo Moscow)

1964: Denis Law (Manchester United)

1965: Eusebio (Benfica)

1966: Bobby Charlton (Manchester United)

1967: Florian Albert (Ferencvaros)

1968: George Best (Manchester United)

1969: Gianni Rivera (AC Milan)

1970: Gerd Muller (Bayern Munich)

1971: Johan Cruyff (Ajax)

1972: Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)

1973: Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)

1974: Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)

1975: Oleg Blokhin (Dynamo Kyiv)

1976: Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)

1977: Allan Simonsen (Borussia Monchengladbach)

1978: Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)

1979: Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)

1980: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)

1981: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)

1982: Paolo Rossi (Juventus)

1983: Michel Platini (Juventus)

1984: Michel Platini (Juventus)

1985: Michel Platini (Juventus)

1986: Igor Belanov (Dynamo Kyiv)

1987: Ruud Gullit (AC Milan)

1988: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)

1989: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)

1990: Lothar Matthaus (Internazionale)

1991: Jean-Pierre Papin (Marseille)

1992: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)

1993: Roberto Baggio (Juventus)

1994: Hristo Stoichkov (Barcelona)

1995: George Weah (AC Milan)

1996: Matthias Sammer (Borussia Dortmund)

1997: Ronaldo (Internazionale)

1998: Zinedine Zidane (Juventus)

1999: Rivaldo (Barcelona)

2000: Luis Figo (Real Madrid)

2001: Michael Owen (Liverpool)

2002: Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

2003: Pavel Nedved (Juventus)

2004: Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan)

2005: Ronaldinho (Barcelona)

2006: Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid)

2007: Kaka (Milan)

2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

2009: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

2010: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

2011: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

2012: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

2013: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

2014: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

2015: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

2016: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

2017: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

2018: Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

2019: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

2020: Cancelled

2021: Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)

2022: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

2023: To be declared

Lionel Messi is the current Ballon d'Or record-holder with seven wins. On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo is second with five wins. Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, and Marco van Basten have each won three times.

France Football's chief editor suggests race for Ballon d'Or 2023 award 'very, very tight'

France Football editor-in-chief Vincent Garcia has opined on the 2023 Ballon d'Or vote between Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe. He told journalist Thomas Mekhiche:

"It's tight this year... it's very, very tight."

Messi, who joined Inter Miami on a free switch from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the summer, registered seven goals and three assists on his way to the 2022 FIFA World Cup trophy. He also scored 21 goals and laid out 20 assists in 41 games for PSG in the 2022-23 term.

Haaland, meanwhile, guided Manchester City to a prestigious treble in his maiden campaign at the club. He netted 52 times and provided nine assists in 53 matches across competitions for his current club.

Mbappe, on the other hand, scored 41 goals and provided 10 assists in 43 games for PSG in the last campaign. Apart from helping his club lift the 2022-23 Ligue 1 title, he guided France to a 2022 FIFA World Cup runners-up finish. He received the Golden Boot with eight strikes.