Which players have won consecutive Ballon d’Or awards?

Lionel Messi has the longest consecutive Ballon d’Or winning streak, with four straight victories from 2009 to 2012.

Several other players have won the award in successive editions, but none has matched Messi’s four-edition streak. Michel Platini is the only other player to win three consecutive editions.

Johan Cruyff, Kevin Keegan, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Marco van Basten and Cristiano Ronaldo each managed two.

This article lists every back-to-back winner in the men’s Ballon d’Or and explains how the record is counted. For the full roll of honour, see our Ballon d’Or Winners List.

Who Has Won the Ballon d’Or Consecutively?

A consecutive Ballon d’Or winner is a player who won the award in two or more successive editions.

The count is based on awarded editions, not just calendar years. That distinction matters because the 2020 men’s Ballon d’Or was cancelled. No one won it, and 2020 is not treated as an edition in this article.

A player who wins in 2013 and again in 2015 does not qualify if someone else won in 2014. Total wins and consecutive wins are separate records.

Seven players have won the men’s award in at least two successive awarded editions: Lionel Messi, Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff, Kevin Keegan, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Marco van Basten and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Messi holds the longest streak at four editions, while Platini won three in a row.

Platini has the second-longest streak at three editions. Cruyff, Keegan, Rummenigge, van Basten and Ronaldo each have two-edition winning sequences, while Messi also has a separate two-edition sequence from 2019 to 2021 because the 2020 award was cancelled.

One note on terminology. From 2010 to 2015 the award was merged with FIFA’s own prize and presented as the FIFA Ballon d’Or.

Those winners are counted here as Ballon d’Or winners, so Messi’s 2010, 2011 and 2012 awards and Ronaldo’s 2013 and 2014 awards sit in the same record as every other edition.

Players who have won consecutive Ballon d’Or awards

Here are the players who have won the Ballon d’Or in successive awarded editions:

Consecutive awarded editions	Player	Years
4	Lionel Messi	2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
3	Michel Platini	1983, 1984, 1985
2	Johan Cruyff	1973, 1974
2	Kevin Keegan	1978, 1979
2	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	1980, 1981
2	Marco van Basten	1988, 1989
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	2013, 2014
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	2016, 2017
2	Lionel Messi	2019, 2021*

*Messi’s 2019 and 2021 wins were successive awarded editions because the 2020 Ballon d’Or was cancelled. They were not consecutive calendar years.

Lionel Messi’s Four Consecutive Ballon d’Or Wins

Messi won in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. No other player has won four editions in a row, and no one has won five.

The sequence began in 2009 after Messi helped Barcelona win La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League during the 2008/09 season.

In 2010 the award became the FIFA Ballon d’Or. Messi won it ahead of Andrés Iniesta and Xavi, the two Spain midfielders who had just won the World Cup.

He won again in 2011, after another Champions League triumph with Barcelona.

The fourth award came in 2012, a calendar year in which he scored 91 goals. That total passed Gerd Müller’s long-standing mark of 85.

The run ended in 2013, when Cristiano Ronaldo won. That is why the streak stops at four.

The streak is also a different record from Messi’s career total of eight wins. For the full list, see Lionel Messi’s Ballon d’Or Wins.

Consecutive Ballon d’Or Winners: Who Won Back-to-Back?

Michel Platini: 1983, 1984, 1985

Platini won three editions in a row and was the first player to do so. His 1984 award came in the year France won the European Championship.

His three-in-a-row stood as the benchmark until Messi won four.

Johan Cruyff: 1973, 1974

Cruyff won in 1973 and 1974. These were his second and third awards, and they followed his first in 1971.

His career total is three, but only two of those wins were consecutive.

Kevin Keegan: 1978, 1979

Keegan won both of his Ballon d’Or awards back-to-back, in 1978 and 1979. He remains one of very few English winners of the trophy.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: 1980, 1981

Rummenigge followed Keegan with consecutive awards in 1980 and 1981. Like Keegan, he won the award twice and both wins came in succession.

Marco van Basten: 1988, 1989

Van Basten won in 1988 and 1989. He added a third award in 1992, but that win was not consecutive with the earlier pair.

Cristiano Ronaldo: 2013, 2014 and 2016, 2017

Ronaldo is the only player with two separate two-edition winning runs that occurred in consecutive calendar years. He won in 2013 and 2014, then again in 2016 and 2017.

Messi won in 2015, which is why Ronaldo’s two runs are split. Ronaldo’s five career awards include a 2008 win that was not part of either streak.

Messi later recorded another two-edition sequence in 2019 and 2021 because the 2020 award was cancelled. See Cristiano Ronaldo’s Ballon d’Or Wins for the full breakdown.

Who Has Won the Most Ballon d’Ors in a Row?

Lionel Messi, with four consecutive victories from 2009 to 2012.

That is a streak record. It measures the longest unbroken sequence of winning editions.

It is not the same as the record for most total wins, which counts every award across a career. Both records are covered in Ballon d’Or Records, and every winner by year is in the Ballon d’Or Winners List.

Has Anyone Won Five Consecutive Ballon d’Or Awards?

No. No men’s Ballon d’Or winner has won five consecutive editions.

Messi’s four straight awards from 2009 through 2012 remain the record.

Why Are Consecutive Ballon d’Or Wins So Rare?

Winning once requires a standout year. Winning twice in a row requires beating the field again.

Several factors make that difficult. Rival candidates change from year to year, and a strong challenger can emerge at any time. Individual form rises and falls, and injuries can interrupt a season.

Team success also matters. A player whose club wins a major trophy often gains attention, though a trophy does not decide the award on its own.

International tournaments can shift the conversation in a World Cup or European Championship year. Voting preferences and the strength of each generation play a part as well.

There is no fixed formula that guarantees a repeat winner. Recent results illustrate how quickly the award can change hands: Karim Benzema won in 2022, Lionel Messi in 2023, Rodri in 2024 and Ousmane Dembélé in 2025.

For context on how often elite players reach the shortlist, see Most Ballon d’Or Nominations.

Consecutive Ballon d’Or Wins vs Total Ballon d’Or Wins

Total wins count how many times a player won the award across a career. Consecutive wins count the longest unbroken sequence.

A player can lead one list without leading the other. Cruyff won three times in total but only two of those were back-to-back. Van Basten is in the same position.

Messi leads both measures. He has eight total wins and the longest run, four. The two numbers answer different questions.

Both are tracked in our Ballon d’Or Records article.

Does the 2020 Cancellation Affect Consecutive Ballon d’Or Records?

The 2020 men’s Ballon d’Or was cancelled, so it has no winner and is not an awarded edition.

A consecutive run refers to successive awarded editions. It does not simply count calendar years.

The cancellation does not change the record. Messi’s winning sequence is 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. Nothing was added or removed.

The cancellation matters when looking at Messi’s 2019 and 2021 wins. They are consecutive awarded editions because there was no Ballon d’Or winner in 2020, but they are not consecutive calendar years. That gives Messi a separate two-edition sequence, while his 2009 to 2012 run remains the record at four.

Frequently Asked Questions About Consecutive Ballon d’Or Winners

Conclusion

Lionel Messi holds the record for consecutive Ballon d’Or wins. He won four in a row, from 2009 to 2012.

Platini won three in a row, while Cruyff, Keegan, Rummenigge, van Basten and Ronaldo each recorded two-edition winning sequences. Messi also won successive awarded editions in 2019 and 2021 because the 2020 award was cancelled. Consecutive wins are a separate measure from career totals.

To see every winner by year, visit the Ballon d’Or Winners List. For more records, read Ballon d’Or Records.