France ties Argentina for most Ballon d'Or awards

With Ousmane Dembélé's Ballon d'Or victory, France reached the milestone of eight victories and tied with Argentina as the most successful country in the "France Football" awards. Thus, the country also equaled the record of star Lionel Messi , who is the most successful in the history of the award and directly responsible for putting the Argentine nation ahead with eight wins.

French football, in turn, has its eight titles distributed among six different players. Before Dembélé, the Ballon d'Or winner consecrated five other stars throughout history: Raymond Kopa (1958), Michel Platini (1983, 1984 and 1985), Jean-Pierre Papin (1991), Zinedine Zidane (1998) and Karim Benzema (2022).

Next come Germany and Italy, each with five winners. Brazil follows with five awards and four different players: Ronaldo (2), Rivaldo, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, and Kaká.

It's worth remembering that France Football magazine created the award in 1956 and honored England's Stanley Matthews, of Blackpool, in the inaugural edition. It was followed by Alfredo Di Stéfano, a Real Madrid legend, in 1957. He was born in Argentina but became a Spanish citizen and represents the European country on the list. Furthermore, the first French player was Kopa, also of the Whites, the following year.

Finally, in 1995, France Football made its first significant change to its regulations. Previously restricted to European players, the award was now open to players of any nationality playing for a European club.

Countries with the most Ballon d'Or awards

8 - France , with six players: Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini (3), Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane, Karim Benzema and Ousmane Dembélé

8 - Argentina , with one player: Lionel Messi (8)

7 - Germany , with five players: Gerd Müller, Franz Beckenbauer (2), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (2), Lothar Matthäus and Matthias Sammer

7 - Netherlands, with three players: Johan Cruyff (3), Marco van Basten (3) and Ruud Gullit

7 - Portugal, with three players: Eusebio, Luís Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo (5)

5 - Italy, with five players: Omar Sivori, Gianni Rivera, Paolo Rossi, Roberto Baggio and Fabio Cannavaro

5 - England, with four players: Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, George Best and Kevin Keegan (2)

5 - BRAZIL , with four players: Ronaldo (2), Rivaldo, Ronaldinho Gaúcho and Kaká

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