FIFA Ballon d'Or - Wikipedia FIFA Ballon d'Or This article is about the combined FIFA world football player award issued between 2010 and 2015. For the European football award given by France Football, see Ballon d'Or. For the previous FIFA award ( 1991 -- 2009 ), see FIFA World Player of the Year. For the next FIFA award ( since 2016 ), see The Best FIFA Men 's Player. FIFA Ballon d'Or awarded to Messi in 2010 Lionel Messi ( right ), pictured here with Cristiano Ronaldo in 2011, dominated the award with 4 wins, 3 of which won consecutively. The FIFA Ballon d'Or ( French pronunciation : ​ ( balɔ̃ dɔʁ ), `` Golden Ball '' ) was an annual association football award presented to the world 's best men 's player from 2010 to 2015. Awarded jointly by FIFA and France Football, the prize was a merger of the FIFA World Player of the Year award and the Ballon d'Or, the two most prestigious individual honours in world football. The FIFA Ballon d'Or was awarded based on votes from international journalists and national team coaches and captains, who selected the players they deemed to have performed the best in the previous calendar year. The six editions of the FIFA Ballon d'Or were dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as part of their ongoing rivalry. Barcelona 's Messi won the inaugural Ballon d'Or in 2010 and went on to win three in a row, after his wins in 2011 and 2012. Ronaldo, who plays for Juventus, won successive awards in the next two years. The final FIFA Ballon d'Or was presented to Messi in 2015. Its awarding bodies subsequently ended their partnership ; for 2016, France Football reintroduced the previous format of the Ballon d'Or, while FIFA created The Best FIFA Men 's Player award. Contents 1 History 1.1 Voting 2 Winners 2.1 Wins by player 2.2 Wins by country 2.3 Wins by club 3 See also 4 References 5 External links History FIFA President Sepp Blatter holds up the agreement creating the FIFA Ballon d'Or in Johannesburg in July 2010. Historically, the leading individual awards in association football were the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award. The original Ballon d'Or, also known as the European Footballer of the Year award, had been awarded by the French publication France Football since 1956. The FIFA World Player of the Year award was presented by FIFA, the sport 's governing body, from 1991. From 2005, the winners of the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award were identical each year. Following the introduction of a global Ballon d'Or format in 2007, France Football and FIFA opted to merge the two awards. The creation of the FIFA Ballon d'Or was subsequently announced during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The inaugural award was presented that same year to the Argentine Lionel Messi. After a six - year partnership, France Football and FIFA terminated the joint award. Lionel Messi had received the final FIFA Ballon d'Or. For historical purposes, both awarding bodies regard the six editions of the FIFA Ballon d'Or as a continuation of their respective awards. Voting The winners of the FIFA Ballon d'Or are chosen by international journalists and the coaches and captains of the national teams under FIFA 's jurisdiction. In a system based on positional voting, each voter was allotted three votes, worth five points, three points and one point, and the three finalists were ordered based on total number of points. Voters were provided with a shortlist of 23 players from which they could select the three players they deemed to have performed the best in the previous calendar year. Winners Year Rank Player Team 1st Lionel Messi Barcelona 2nd Andrés Iniesta Barcelona 3rd Xavi Barcelona 2011 1st Lionel Messi Barcelona 2nd Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 3rd Xavi Barcelona 2012 1st Lionel Messi Barcelona 2nd Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 3rd Andrés Iniesta Barcelona 2013 1st Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 2nd Lionel Messi Barcelona 3rd Franck Ribéry Bayern Munich 2014 1st Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 2nd Lionel Messi Barcelona 3rd Manuel Neuer Bayern Munich 2015 1st Lionel Messi Barcelona 2nd Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 3rd Neymar Barcelona Wins by player # Player First place Second place Third place Lionel Messi 4 ( 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 ) 2 ( 2013, 2014 ) 0 Cristiano Ronaldo 2 ( 2013, 2014 ) 3 ( 2011, 2012, 2015 ) 0 Andrés Iniesta 0 1 ( 2010 ) 1 ( 2012 ) Xavi 0 0 2 ( 2010, 2011 ) 5 Franck Ribéry 0 0 1 ( 2013 ) Manuel Neuer 0 0 1 ( 2014 ) Neymar 0 0 1 ( 2015 ) Wins by country # Country First place Second place Third place Argentina 4 ( 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 ) 2 ( 2013, 2014 ) 0 Portugal 2 ( 2013, 2014 ) 3 ( 2011, 2012, 2015 ) 0 Spain 0 1 ( 2010 ) 3 ( 2010, 2011, 2012 ) France 0 0 1 ( 2013 ) Germany 0 0 1 ( 2014 ) Brazil 0 0 1 ( 2015 ) Wins by club # Club First place Second place Third place Barcelona 4 ( 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 ) 3 ( 2010, 2013, 2014 ) 4 ( 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 ) Real Madrid 2 ( 2013, 2014 ) 3 ( 2011, 2012, 2015 ) 0 Bayern Munich 0 0 2 ( 2013, 2014 ) See also Ballon d'Or FIFA World Player of the Year The Best FIFA Football Awards FIFPro World XI References Notes Jump up ^ FIFA and France Football credit Mbappe, the recipient of the 2009 Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award, with fifteen Ballons d'Or in total. Mbappe additionally placed as a finalist for both awards in 2007 and 2008. Jump up ^ FIFA and France Football credit Ronaldo, the recipient of the 2008 Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award, with three Ballons d'Or in total. Ronaldo additionally placed as a finalist for both awards in 2007 and 2009. Jump up ^ Xavi additionally placed in third place for the 2009 Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award. Citations Jump up ^ `` World Cup 2010 : Fifa and Ballon d'Or player awards to be merged ''. The Daily Telegraph. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2016. Jump up ^ Wahl, Grant ( 15 September 2010 ). `` Xavi, Messi are primary contenders for the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or ''. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 15 January 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` The FIFA Ballon d'Or is born ''. FIFA. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2016. Jump up ^ `` Argentina 's Lionel Messi wins Fifa Ballon d'Or award ''. BBC Sport. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2016. Jump up ^ `` Ballon d'Or : FIFA ends association with world player of the year award ''. BBC Sport. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` FIFA Ballon d'Or : History ''. FIFA. Retrieved 15 January 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Ballon d'Or Palmarès : La liste complête des lauréats du Ballon d'or, de 1956 à nos jours '' ( Ballon d'Or Winners : The full list of the winners of the Ballon d'Or, from 1956 to our days ). France Football. Retrieved 15 January 2016. Jump up ^ `` Rules of allocation '' ( pdf ). FIFA. Retrieved 15 January 2016. ^ Jump up to : Pierrend, José Luis ( 12 February 2015 ). `` FIFA Awards : World Player of the Year ''. Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 15 January 2016. ^ Jump up to : Moore, Rob ; Stokkermans, Karel ( 21 January 2011 ). `` European Footballer of the Year ( '' Ballon d'Or `` ) ''. Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 15 January 2016. External links Official website by FIFA Official website by France Football FIFA Player of the Year FIFA World Player of the Year 1991 : Matthäus 1992 : Van Basten 1993 : Baggio 1994 : Romário 1995 : Weah 1996 : Ronaldo 1997 : Ronaldo 1998 : Zidane 1999 : Rivaldo 2000 : Zidane 2001 : Figo 2002 : Ronaldo 2003 : Zidane 2004 : Ronaldinho 2005 : Ronaldinho 2006 : Cannavaro 2007 : Kaká 2008 : C. Ronaldo 2009 : Messi FIFA Ballon d'Or 2010 : Messi 2011 : Messi 2012 : Messi 2013 : C. Ronaldo 2014 : C. Ronaldo 2015 : Messi The Best FIFA Men 's Player 2016 : C. Ronaldo 2017 : C. Ronaldo 2018 : Modrić See also : Ballon d'Or Ballon d'Or France Football magazine award Ballon d'Or ( 1956 -- 2009 ) 1956 : Matthews 1957 : Di Stéfano 1958 : Kopa 1959 : Di Stéfano 1960 : Suárez 1961 : Sívori 1962 : Masopust 1963 : Yashin 1964 : Law 1965 : Eusébio 1966 : Charlton 1967 : Albert 1968 : Best 1969 : Rivera 1970 : Müller 1971 : Cruyff 1972 : Beckenbauer 1973 : Cruyff 1974 : Cruyff 1975 : Blokhin 1976 : Beckenbauer 1977 : Simonsen 1978 : Keegan 1979 : Keegan 1980 : Rummenigge 1981 : Rummenigge 1982 : Rossi 1983 : Platini 1984 : Platini 1985 : Platini 1986 : Belanov 1987 : Gullit 1988 : Van Basten 1989 : Van Basten 1990 : Matthäus 1991 : Papin 1992 : Van Basten 1993 : Baggio 1994 : Stoichkov 1995 : Weah 1996 : Sammer 1997 : Ronaldo 1998 : Zidane 1999 : Rivaldo 2000 : Figo 2001 : Owen 2002 : Ronaldo 2003 : Nedvěd 2004 : Shevchenko 2005 : Ronaldinho 2006 : Cannavaro 2007 : Kaká 2008 : C. Ronaldo 2009 : Messi FIFA Ballon d'Or ( 2010 -- 2015 ) 2010 : Messi 2011 : Messi 2012 : Messi 2013 : C. Ronaldo 2014 : C. Ronaldo 2015 : Messi Ballon d'Or ( 2016 -- present ) 2016 : C. Ronaldo 2017 : C. 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Question: how is the winner of the ballon d'or decided
Answer: based on votes from international journalists and national team coaches and captains, who selected the players they deemed to have performed the best in the previous calendar year