The Ballon d'Or and the Africans

Cristiano Ronaldo's comment at a football awards ceremony in Dubai, where he claimed that Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid and Brazil) deserved to win the men’s Ballon d'Or over Rodri (Manchester City and Spain) and called it "unfair," got me thinking about some notes I took a few months ago on the history of the Ballon d'Or and the underrepresentation of African and African-descended players. While Ronaldo's statement may have been a nod to his hosts rather than a display of racial justice activism, it did bring attention to an important issue. So, here we go, to borrow Fabrizio Romano’s catchphrase.

In summary, the award's history is marked by shifting eligibility rules, changing footballing eras, and gradual but significant recognition of African and African-descended talent in Europe (whose football media and clubs dominate globally).

First, more context: The Ballon d'Or was originally established by the French football magazine France Football. The winner is chosen by an international panel of journalists from the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations. Until 1995, the award was restricted to European players, as it was initially known as the "European Footballer of the Year" award, meaning only players active at European clubs were eligible. Pele and Maradona – the best of their eras – never won the Golden Ball. In 1995, France Football expanded the eligibility criteria to include players worldwide, provided they played for European clubs.

The first men’s Ballon d'Or, awarded in 1956, went to British player Stanley Matthews. This was more a reflection of European media’s narrow view than the state of football elsewhere, especially South American football (Sidenote: Matthews’ controversial stance on South African apartheid and apartheid sports - he played in segregated leagues and coached there – later raised questions. Research by football scholar Chris Bolsmann concludes that Matthews benefitted from apartheid but also vacillated and seemingly opposed the system.)

In 1958, Pelé was the world’s best player (he had won the World Cup with Brazil) but played for Santos in Brazil and wasn’t European. Raymond Kopa of France won. Two Argentinians of European descent—Alfredo Di Stefano and Omar Sivori—who played club and national team football in Spain and Italy and had taken citizenship there, respectively, made the shortlist.

The first player of African descent to feature in the Ballon d'Or voting was Eusébio, from Benfica in Portugal. Born in colonial Mozambique, Eusebio had Portuguese citizenship as a member of its empire. He finished second in 1962 behind Czechoslovakia's Masopust.

Eusébio won the award in 1965 (still with Benfica) and finished second in 1966 behind British player Bobby Charlton, with the German Franz Beckenbauer in third.

The next player of African descent to make the top three was in 1984. French player Jean Tigana, one of my favorite players, finished second behind his teammate Michel Platini and ahead of Preben Elkjær of Denmark. Tigana was born in Bamako to a Malian father and a French mother when Mali was still colonial French Sudan. In 1984, Tigana played for the French club Bordeaux, which had won the league that year, and Tigana was awarded French Player of the Year. The French men’s national team also won the Euros in 1984.

Diego Maradona was the world’s best player between 1986 and 1990, but he didn’t qualify for the award because he wasn’t European.

In 1987, Dutch player Ruud Gullit, whose father was from Suriname, a majority-black country in South America, won the Ballon d'Or. Gullit dedicated the award to Nelson Mandela, who was still in prison in South Africa. At the time, Gullit was regarded as second best only to Maradona. Portuguese Paulo Futre was second, and Spaniard Emilio Butragueño was third.

In 1988, Gullit finished second behind his Dutch national teammate, Marco van Basten. Another African-descended player, Frank Rijkaard (his father was also from Suriname), finished third. The three men were teammates at AC Milan in Serie A and led the Netherlands to the Euro 88 title. (Sidenote: Rijkaard and Gullit’s fathers migrated to Amsterdam together.)

In 1989, Rijkaard finished third, behind Van Basten and Italian Franco Baresi, in the Ballon d’Or voting. Baresi also played for AC Milan at the time.

A significant turning point came in 1995 when the Ballon d'Or was opened to non-European players. George Weah, from Liberia, became the first African player to win the Golden Ball, defeating German Jürgen Klinsmann (at Tottenham!) and Finn Jari Litmanen (at Ajax).

In 1996, the Afrobrazilian Ronaldo—known as “the phenomenon” and the “original Ronaldo” but not known for black consciousness—finished second behind German Matthias Sammer and ahead of British player Alan Shearer.

Ronaldo (then in his last season at FC Barcelona) would claim the Ballon d'Or in 1997, edging out Montenegrin Pedja Mijatović (at Real Madrid) and Zinedine Zidane, a French player of Algerian descent, then playing for Juventus.

In 1998, Zidane won the World Cup and, predictably, the Ballon d'Or, finishing ahead of Davor Šuker and Ronaldo.

Another Afrobrazilian Rivaldo, playing at FC Barcelona, won in 1999.

Zidane finished second in 2000 behind Portuguese Luis Figo.

In 2002, Ronaldo, then at Inter Milan, was the star of the World Cup with Brazil and won the Ballon d'Or, with another Afrobrazilian Roberto Carlos (at Real Madrid) finishing second.

In 2003, Thierry Henry, whose family emigrated from the Caribbean (his father is from Guadeloupe and his mother from Martinique) to France and who played for Arsenal, finished second behind Czech Pavel Nedvěd (at Juventus) and ahead of Italian Paolo Maldini (at AC Milan).

In 2004, Afrobrazilian Ronaldinho finished third, with Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko (who had finished third in 2000) claiming the top spot. In 2005, Ronaldinho won the Ballon d'Or over two British midfielders, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

Henry finished third in the 2006 Ballon d'Or behind Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluigi Buffon, two Italians who had just won the World Cup.

In 2015, Afrobrazilian Neymar finished third in an era dominated by Argentinian Lionel Messi (1st) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2nd). Neymar did so while playing alongside Messi at FC Barcelona. Neymar finished third again in 2017, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi.

In 2018, Egyptian Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) was considered one of the top contenders but was not in the final three. Croatian Luka Modrić (at Real Madrid) won. Cristiano was second, and Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid and France) third.

The following year, in 2019, Afro-Dutch player Virgil van Dijk (his mother is from Suriname) finished second behind Messi and ahead of Cristiano.

There was no Ballon d'Or in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Lionel Messi won his seventh award, with Lewandowski (who many believed should have won in 2020) finishing second and Italian Jorginho (key to Italy’s success in the Euros) third. Karim Benzema (French of Algerian descent), Kylian Mbappé (French of Cameroonian and Algerian descent), and N'Golo Kanté (French of Malian descent) did not make the top three.

In 2022, some justice was served when Benzema—not particularly beloved by the French media then —won the Ballon d'Or, with Senegalese Sadio Mané (playing at Liverpool) finishing second. There was still no place for Mohamed Salah or Kylian Mbappé.

In 2023, Messi claimed his eighth Ballon d'Or (because of the World Cup), with Erling Haaland finishing second and Mbappé third.

In 2024, Vinicius should have won.