Ballon d'Or: cards, rarity and popularity
Ballon d'Or is a football award.
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Ballon d'Or
Image: Jaime de la Fuente · CC BY 2.0 · source
Latest winners: Ousmane Dembélé (2025), Lionel Messi (2023, 2021, 2019), Karim Benzema (2022) and Luka Modrić (2018). The recorded list covers 30 awards, from 1983 to 2025. Most frequent name on this list: Lionel Messi (2009, 2019, 2021, 2023).
How it works: one card per year, with a rarity set by that year's real-world popularity, measured on Wikipedia.
The cards, year by year
Ballon d'Or has 12 cards in the game, from 2015 to 2026. The set includes 1 legendary, 9 epic and 2 uncommon. The standout is the 2021 card, a legendary one minted on a median of 315,700 views a month. Once minted, a card is frozen - the rarity of its year stays with it for good.
- 2015Rarity: Uncommon22K views/month
- 2016Rarity: Uncommon23K views/month
- 2017Rarity: Epic124K views/month
- 2018Rarity: Epic195K views/month
- 2019Rarity: Epic155K views/month
- 2020Rarity: Epic155K views/month
- 2021Rarity: Legendary316K views/month
- 2022Rarity: Epic203K views/month
- 2023Rarity: Epic245K views/month
- 2024Rarity: Epic217K views/month
- 2025Rarity: Epic174K views/month
- 2026Rarity: Epic177K views/month
Popularity year by year
Popularity is the monthly median of views of its Wikipedia page, year by year. It peaked in 2021 (315,700 views a month) and was lowest in 2015 (22,244). In 2025, the median reached 174,361 views a month, down 20% on 2024. Over the last twelve months: 177,398 views a month.
| Year | Views per month (median) | Card of the year |
|---|---|---|
| 2026last 12 months | 177,398 | Rarity: Epic |
| 2025 | 174,361 | Rarity: Epic |
| 2024 | 217,215 | Rarity: Epic |
| 2023 | 244,634 | Rarity: Epic |
| 2022 | 203,325 | Rarity: Epic |
| 2021 | 315,700 | Rarity: Legendary |
| 2020 | 155,309 | Rarity: Epic |
| 2019 | 155,409 | Rarity: Epic |
| 2018 | 195,374 | Rarity: Epic |
| 2017 | 124,289 | Rarity: Epic |
| 2016 | 23,065 | Rarity: Uncommon |
| 20156 months measured | 22,244 | Rarity: Uncommon |
Mini quiz
2 questions to test what you know.
1.Ballon d'Or: in what year was it first awarded?
2.Ballon d'Or: who awards it?
Profile
- Presented by
- France Football
- Founded
- 1956
- Winners
- 2025 Ousmane Dembélé
- 2023 Lionel Messi
- 2022 Karim Benzema
- 2021 Lionel Messi
- 2019 Lionel Messi
- 2018 Luka Modrić
- 2009 Lionel Messi
- 2008 Cristiano Ronaldo
- 2007 Kaká
- 2006 Fabio Cannavaro
- 2005 Ronaldinho
- 2004 Andriy Shevchenko
- 2003 Pavel Nedvěd
- 2002 Ronaldo
- 2001 Michael Owen
- 2000 Luís Figo
- 1999 Rivaldo
- 1998 Zinedine Zidane
- 1997 Ronaldo
- 1996 Matthias Sammer
- 1994 Hristo Stoichkov
- 1993 Roberto Baggio
- 1992 Marco van Basten
- 1991 Jean-Pierre Papin
- 1989 Marco van Basten
- 1988 Marco van Basten
- 1987 Ruud Gullit
- 1985 Michel Platini
- 1984 Michel Platini
- 1983 Michel Platini
Frequently asked questions
What is the rarest Ballon d'Or card?
The 2021 card, which is legendary: that year the subject's Wikipedia page drew a median of 315,700 views a month.
How many Ballon d'Or cards are there?
12 cards, one per year of fame, from 2015 to 2026: 1 legendary, 9 epic and 2 uncommon.
Which was Ballon d'Or's most popular year?
2021, with a median of 315,700 views a month on its Wikipedia page - the 2021 card is legendary.
Who is the latest Ballon d'Or winner?
Ousmane Dembélé, in 2025.
How do I get a Ballon d'Or card?
By opening packs of 5 cards: 3 packs are free when you sign up, then packs refill for free. Cards can also be traded with friends, or on the market for in-game coins.
Start your collection
Open your packs, collect cards of players, clubs and stadiums, trade with your friends and take them on in duels.
Open my 3 free packsImage credits
Image: Jaime de la Fuente · CC BY 2.0 · source
Thumbnails of other subjects are credited on their own page. Want an image removed? Write to [email protected].
Elofoot is not affiliated with any player, club, national team, competition, organiser or stadium mentioned. Names identify the subjects of the cards; facts come from Wikidata, popularity from Wikipedia page-view statistics and pictures from Wikimedia Commons, under their licences.