The Ballon d'Or award is an annual football award for the best player from the previous year. Up until 1995 it was awarded only to football players from Europe and was generally known as the European Footballer of the Year award.

Below are the nominees in the final order after voting for the 1991 award. The winner was French player Jean-Pierre Papin whoplayed for Marseille. See the list of all Ballon d'Or winners.

Final order for the men's 1991 Ballon d'Or

Order Player Club Nationality Points
1 Jean-Pierre Papin Marseille France 141
2 Dejan Savićević Red Star Belgrade Yugoslavia 42
  Darko Pančev Red Star Belgrade Yugoslavia 42
  Lothar Matthäus Internazionale Germany 42
5 Robert Prosinečki Red Star Belgrade /  Real Madrid Yugoslavia 34
6 Gary Lineker Tottenham Hotspur England 33
7 Gianluca Vialli Sampdoria Italy 18
8 Miodrag Belodedici Red Star Belgrade Romania 15
9 Mark Hughes Manchester United Wales 12
10 Chris Waddle Marseille England 11
11 Michael Laudrup Barcelona Denmark 7
12 Rudi Völler Roma Germany 5
13 Txiki Begiristain Barcelona Spain 3
  Stéphane Chapuisat Borussia Dortmund Switzerland 3
  Bruno Martini Auxerre France 3
  Paul McGrath Aston Villa Republic of Ireland 3
  Dean Saunders Derby County / Liverpool Wales 3
  Hristo Stoichkov Barcelona Bulgaria 3
19 Roberto Mancini Sampdoria Italy 2
  Marco van Basten Milan Netherlands 2
21 Guido Buchwald VfB Stuttgart Germany 1
  Thomas Doll Lazio Germany 1
  Stefan Effenberg Bayern Munich Germany 1
  Ruud Gullit Milan Netherlands 1
  Gheorghe Hagi Real Madrid Romania 1
  Alexei Mikhailichenko Rangers Soviet Union 1
  Gary Pallister Manchester United England 1
  Dimitris Saravakos Panathinaikos Greece 1
  Gianluca Pagliuca Sampdoria Italy 1
  Guy Hellers Standard Liège Luxembourg 1
  Laurent Blanc Napoli France 1