Adedokun Waliyu 
The organisers of the Ballon d’Or have confirmed that a player can win football’s most prestigious individual award even without lifting a team trophy during the season.
Ahead of the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony scheduled for October 26 in London, the organisers revisited the history of the award, clarifying that winning major silverware is not a mandatory requirement for claiming the honour.
According to the organisers, only six players have won the Ballon d’Or without securing a team trophy in the same season.
The first was Stanley Matthews, who won the inaugural Ballon d’Or in 1956 despite ending the year without silverware.
He was followed by Denis Law in 1964, Gerd Müller in 1970, Kevin Keegan in 1978, Luis Figo in 2000, and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013.
Cristiano Ronaldo remains the most recent player to achieve the feat, with no player having won the award without a team title in the 11 editions since then.
The organisers also noted that no female footballer has won the Women’s Ballon d’Or without lifting a team trophy since the award was introduced in 2018.
This year’s ceremony, scheduled for October 26 in London, will crown the 70th men’s Ballon d’Or winner and the eighth Women’s Ballon d’Or recipient.
The clarification comes amid ongoing debates over whether individual brilliance alone is enough to win the award or whether team success should remain a decisive factor in the voting process.
