The Ballon d'Or has been around since 1956 (this evening the 69th edition is celebrated), but has seen the biggest changes in the last two decades. From a trophy that awarded only men players in European competitions, to a full celebration of world's football, with parity in men's and women's categories achieved for the first time in 2025, here's a short history of how Ballon d'Or has evolved.
Recognition of world football, not only European football
For nearly 40 years, until 1995, only European players were eligible for the Ballon d'Or, which, let's not forget, was created by the French newspaper L'Équipe. Between 1995 and 2007, only players on European leagues were eligible. In 2007, it changed to represent footballers from all around the world, playing anywhere.
However, a very recent change in 2022 once again affected players playing outside of Europe: the award took into consideration the last football season, instead of the calendar year. As the awards is usually held in late September, at the beginning of the European football seasons, it benefits the visibility for players in European leagues.
To this date, the only man to win it from outside the European football leagues is Leo Messi in 2023 (Inter Miami), also recognising his victory at World Cup. In women's Ballon d'Or, held since 2018, Megan Rapinoe won in 2019 for American club Reign FC.
Women's representation in Ballon d'Or
Representation of women's football at the Ballon d'Or came much later. In 2018 (two years later than FIFA's The Best awards for women), the first Ballon d'Or Féminin was given to Ada Hegerberg (Norway) for Lyon.
The following years, the other men's categories added women's counterparts: 2025 will be the first time Women's Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper), Women's Gerd Müller Trophy (highest-scoring footballer), and Women's Kopa Trophy (best player under 21) are awarded.
However, there's differences in the voting process: while journalists (one per country) from the top 100 nations in FIFA's rankings are allowed to vote for men's awards, only journalists from the top 50 countries vote for women's awards.
Other categories
2018, the same year that the first women's Ballon d'Or was awarded, also saw the creation of other categories: Kopa Trophy for best player under 21 (given to women too in 2025). The Yashin trophy, for best goalkeeper, was introduced in 2019 for men (2025 for women).
The Gerd Muller trophy was introduced for best strikers (highest number of goals in a calendar year) in 2021 for men, in 2025 for women. The Club of the year was introduced for men and women in 2023 and the Coach of the year for men's and women's teams was introduced in 2024.
Finally, the Sócarates Award was introduced in 2022 to recognise humanitarian work by a footballer worldwide. Sadio Mané, Vinícius Jr, and Jennifer Hermoso won the three first awards