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So close. Kylian Mbappé came within touching distance of becoming the ninth Real Madrid player to win the Ballon d’Or. The Frenchman finished second behind Harry Kane, despite ending the season as the leading scorer in three competitions: LaLiga (25 goals), the Champions League (15) and the World Cup (10), where he also became the tournament’s all-time leading scorer. Even those achievements were not enough to secure the prestigious award.
Here, we look back at the Real Madrid players who have won the Ballon d’Or.
Quite simply, the greatest player of all time. Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Lauhlé played for Real Madrid from 1953 to 1964, spending more than a decade demonstrating, match after match, why he earned the nickname L’Omniprésent.
He was the driving force behind Madrid throughout that period, the undisputed leader of a generation that dominated European soccer from 1956 until his departure in 1964. The team won five consecutive European Cups and reached another two finals, losing to Benfica in 1962 and Inter Milan in 1964.
Di Stéfano won his first Ballon d’Or in 1957, having missed out on the inaugural award the previous year by just three points to England’s Sir Stanley Matthews, then playing for Blackpool. In 1957, however, there was no contest. Legendary defender Billy Wright finished second with 19 points, compared with the Madrid star’s 72.
Two years later, in 1959, Di Stéfano claimed the award again. Madrid’s fourth consecutive European Cup triumph earned him another Ballon d’Or, and once again, he faced little competition. His former teammate Raymond Kopa, the 1958 winner, finished second with 42 points to Di Stéfano’s 80.
That completed a remarkable sequence of three consecutive Ballon d’Or victories by Madrid players between 1957 and 1959. In 1989, Di Stéfano would also receive the Super Ballon d’Or.
The man known as the “Napoleon of Football” arrived at Real Madrid after starring for Stade de Reims, whom he had helped reach the first European Cup final. He signed for Madrid shortly before that match took place.
By then, his reputation had spread across Europe thanks to a series of outstanding performances, including one at the Santiago Bernabéu in 1955, when he helped France beat Spain 2-1.
Madrid’s president, who had an eye for signing “good players,” was determined to bring him to the club and succeeded. There was just one problem: Di Stéfano played in the same position.
The solution was to deploy Kopa on the right of the attack, creating what would become one of the greatest forward lines in soccer history: Kopa, Rial, Di Stéfano, Puskás and Gento.
His European Cup performances and outstanding displays at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, where France finished third, earned him the Ballon d’Or.
Kopa returned to France at the end of his time in Madrid, explaining that his wife had never felt entirely comfortable in the Spanish capital. He became the first French player to win the award.
One of the finest right wingers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Direct, incisive, capable of creating goals and scoring them himself.
The Portuguese star arrived at Real Madrid in 2000 as the centerpiece of Florentino Pérez’s presidential election campaign against Lorenzo Sanz. Madrid paid his $70 million release clause to bring him from Barcelona.
At the time, Figo was Barcelona’s captain and had just enjoyed an outstanding European Championship with Portugal. His move to Madrid followed a miscalculation by his then-agent, José Veiga, but he went on to enjoy considerable success in the Spanish capital, adding the European Cup to his collection in 2002.
He left five years later in somewhat murky circumstances, having fallen out with coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo, the club’s hierarchy and sections of the press.
Nevertheless, he left behind the unmistakable mark of his formidable personality, competitive instincts and winning mentality.
O Fenômeno. The nickname alone is enough to identify one of the greatest strikers in soccer history.
His early performances in Brazil were so extraordinary that he was selected for the country’s squad at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, although he did not make an appearance.
That summer, he joined PSV Eindhoven, immediately making an enormous impact on European soccer. Barcelona came next, followed by Inter Milan.
His speed, explosive acceleration, goalscoring instincts, power and audacity made him the perfect striker to terrorize opposition defenses for years.
But like every Superman, Ronaldo had his kryptonite. In his case, it was injuries – devastating problems affecting both knees.
He recovered and went on to win the 2002 World Cup with Brazil. It was the ideal moment to leave Héctor Cúper’s Inter Milan for Real Madrid.
Having first won the Ballon d’Or in 1997, Ronaldo claimed it again five years later, this time as a Madrid player. His extraordinary performances at the first World Cup held in Asia earned him the award.
He left Madrid in January 2007 following a serious disagreement with then-coach Fabio Capello. But his place among the greatest strikers of all time has never been in doubt.
His anticipation, timing in the tackle, intuition, ability to overpower opposing attackers and commanding personality were evident at every club he represented, including Real Madrid.
From his early days at Diego Maradona’s Napoli through Parma, Inter Milan, Juventus, Madrid, a second spell at Juventus and finally Al Ahly, Fabio Cannavaro established himself as one of the outstanding defenders of his generation.
Above all, however, there was his contribution to the Italian national team, which he captained to World Cup glory in Germany in 2006. That achievement was decisive in securing the Ballon d’Or that year.
The Italian defender finished ahead of compatriot Gianluigi Buffon by 173 points to 124.
Capello’s second arrival at Real Madrid, under president Ramón Calderón and sporting director Pedja Mijatović, paved the way for Cannavaro to join the Spanish club.
He spent three seasons in Madrid, leaving his mark as an exceptional defender. He won two LaLiga titles, the last two Madrid had managed to win consecutively at that point.
He departed in 2009, as Pérez returned to the presidency and ushered in a period of change.
The Di Stéfano of the 21st century. A perfectly tuned goalscoring machine, capable of finding the net in virtually every imaginable way.
A player shaped by relentless hard work and sacrifice, refining his natural talent through an insatiable competitive spirit, a hunger for goals and a determination to dominate his opponents.
Cristiano Ronaldo arrived in 2009 already established as one of the world’s best players, having won the Champions League in 2008 and his first Ballon d’Or.
But at Real Madrid, he embarked on an extraordinary era in which the club won four Champions League titles, including three in succession.
Along the way, he collected another four Ballon d’Or awards, all while wearing Madrid white: 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
When he departed in 2018, he left as the leading scorer in Madrid’s history, with 450 goals in 438 appearances – an average of 1.027 goals per game.
A human goalscoring machine gun.
Respected by every opponent and equally respectful toward those he faced, Luka Modrić joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2012.
He initially struggled to adapt, but gradually became a pivotal figure in one of the most successful periods in the club’s nearly 125-year history, forming a legendary midfield partnership with Toni Kroos and Casemiro.
Over his 13 seasons in Madrid white, he became the most decorated player in the club’s history, winning 28 trophies, including six European Cups – an achievement within reach of very few players.
His collection also included six Club World Cups, five UEFA Super Cups, four LaLiga titles, two Copa del Rey trophies and five Spanish Super Cups.
Modrić won the Ballon d’Or in 2018, the same year he received FIFA’s The Best Men’s Player award and was named UEFA Men’s Player of the Year.
A legend of world soccer, of Real Madrid and of his native Croatia, whom he helped lead to the 2018 World Cup final.
Quite a career.
One of a kind.
It was Zinedine Zidane who convinced Florentino Pérez to sign Karim Benzema in the summer of 2009.
The story is well known. Madrid’s president flew to Lyon, turned up at the home of Benzema’s parents and had them call their son. The player arrived, saw what was on offer and made his decision.
Over the years, he developed into an extraordinary striker whose Madrid career can be divided into two distinct phases.
In the first, he shared the spotlight with Cristiano Ronaldo, although the Portuguese superstar commanded most of the media attention.
The second began when Ronaldo decided to leave Madrid for a new challenge.
That was when Benzema emerged as the leader. Supported by teammates including Sergio Ramos, Kroos, Modrić and Thibaut Courtois, he never hesitated to shoulder responsibility whenever the team needed him.
The 2021–22 season was the crowning achievement of his career. He produced an extraordinary campaign, was involved in 59 goals across 46 appearances, won his first Pichichi Trophy as LaLiga’s leading scorer and received the 2022 Ballon d’Or from his mentor, Zidane.
It was the ultimate recognition of his transformation into one of Madrid’s greatest players.
Benzema left as the club’s second-highest scorer of all time, with 354 goals in 648 appearances.
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