The Ballon d'Or is an annual football award presented by France Football to the best male and female players in the world. Journalists from the top-ranked member nations vote on the winner, and the player with the most points win.

Starting in 2022, the voters are limited to the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings for men and the top 50 nations from the women's rankings. Each journalist makes their top five picks from a 30-person shortlist, with each ranking earning a different points value/number of votes.

Points Distribution System

  • First: Six points
  • Second: Four points
  • Third: Three points
  • Fourth: Two points
  • Fifth: One point

The voting assessment criteria were updated in 2022 to focus on three main factors. The primary criteria were the player's individual performance in the previous European season of August to July, no longer by calendar year, and no longer factoring career success at all. The other factors considered are team success during the previous season, as well as player behavior and fair play.

"The Ballon d'Or voting system represents one of the most comprehensive evaluation processes in football, combining individual excellence with team achievements and ethical conduct to determine the world's finest player."
— Robert J. Wood, PhD, Founder of Topend Sports

If there's an unlikely tie at the top, the player with the most first-place votes will win the Ballon d'Or.

See a list of all winners for the men and women.

Previous Voting Systems

The voting system to determine the Ballon d'Or winners has changed over time.

At first, the winner of the Ballon d'Or was selected by a panel of 16 sports journalists, one from each member country of UEFA. At the time, the award was called the European Footballer of the Year.

In 1995, the Ballon d'Or was expanded to include all players of any origin who have been active at European clubs. The award became a global prize in 2007, with all professional footballers from clubs around the world being eligible. At the same time, the voting pool was expanded to include journalists from outside UEFA countries.

Up until 2006, the Ballon d'Or was based exclusively on voting by football journalists. In 2006, there were 52 voters, each picking five players in order, and each receiving 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 point each.

From 2007 until 2015, additionally, coaches and captains of national teams were also given the right to vote. In 2016, it reverted to just journalists again.

For example, in 2012, there were three voters for each FIFA member federation, one journalist, and the coaches and captain of the national men's team, each voting for three players (5, 3, and 1 point each)

In 2016, there were 173 voters, each voting for three players (5, 3, and 1 point each).

Ballon d'Or Voting System Used in 2025

The winner of this award is chosen through a dual voting system:

  1. Journalists from France Football and fellow French publication L'Equipe collaborate to come up with a combined list of 30 official nominees, which is based on the previous performances of the players in the previous season. This selection process might also include a few former players.
  2. One football journalist from each of the top 100 FIFA-ranked is invited to vote for their top 10 players from the 30-man shortlist. The 10 players are awarded 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 points based on ranking.

Once these journalists have submitted their top 10 player list, points are tallied and the winner of the Ballon d'Or award is the player that gets the most points in the voting. The rest of the players on the list are then ranked from second to 30th.

💡 Pro Tip: The Ballon d'Or voting period now aligns with the European season (August to July) rather than the calendar year, giving voters a more focused timeframe to assess player performance.