Previous Ballon d'Or winners

Previous winners of the FIFA Ballon d'Or, after Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi won the award for the third consecutive year on Monday:1956: Stanley Matthews (ENG)1957: Alfredo Di Stefano (ESP)1958: Raymond Kopa (FRA)1959: Alfredo Di Stefano (ESP)1960: Luis Suarez (ESP)1961: Omar Sivori (ITA)1962: Josef Masopust (CZE)1963: Lev Yashin (USSR)1964: Denis Law (SCO)1965: Eusebio (POR)1966: Bobby Charlton (ENG)1967: Florian Albert (HUN)1968: George Best (NIR)1969: Gianni Rivera (ITA)1970: Gerd Muller (GER)1971: Johan Cruyff (NED)1972: Franz Beckenbauer (GER)1973: Johan Cruyff (NED)1974: Johan Cruyff (NED)1975: Oleg Blokhin (USSR)1976: Franz Beckenbauer (GER)1977: Alan Simonsen (DEN)1978: Kevin Keegan (ENG)1979: Kevin Keegan (ENG)1980: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (GER)1981: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (GER)1982: Paolo Rossi (ITA)1983: Michel Platini (FRA)1984: Michel Platini (FRA)1985: Michel Platini (FRA)1986: Igor Belanov (USSR)1987: Ruud Gullit (NED)1988: Marco van Basten (NED)1989: Marco van Basten (NED)1990: Lothar Matthaus (GER)1991: Jean-Pierre Papin (FRA)1992: Marco van Basten (NED)1993: Roberto Baggio (ITA)1994: Hristo Stoichkov (BUL)1995: George Weah (LIB)1996: Matthias Sammer (GER)1997: Ronaldo (BRA)1998: Zinedine Zidane (FRA)1999: Rivaldo (BRA)2000: Luis Figo (POR)2001: Michael Owen (ENG)2002: Ronaldo (BRA)2003: Pavel Nedved (CZE)2004: Andrei Shevchenko (UKR)2005: Ronaldinho (BRA)2006: Fabio Cannavaro (ITA)2007: Kaka (BRA)2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (POR)2009: Lionel Messi (ARG)2010: Lionel Messi (ARG)2011: Lionel Messi (ARG)Note: France Football Ballon d'Or merged with FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2010

Source: AFP