# 2005 Ballon d'Or

The 2005 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries, was delivered to the Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho on 28 November 2005. On 24 October 2005, was announced the shortlist of 50 male players compiled by a group of experts from France Football. There were 52 voters, from Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales. Each picked a first (5pts), second (4pts), third (3pts), fourth (2pts) and fifth choice (1pt).
Ronaldinho was the third Brazilian to win the award after Rivaldo (1999) and Ronaldo. Paolo Maldini (Italy) was the best ranked defender, at sixth, while Thierry Henry (France) was the top-ranked forward, at fourth place.

## Rankings
### Voted players

| Rank | Player | Nationality | Club(s) | Votes by place | Votes by place | Votes by place | Votes by place | Votes by place | Votes |
| Rank | Player | Nationality | Club(s) | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Votes |
| 1st | Ronaldinho | Brazil | Barcelona | 33 | 11 | 4 | 2 | - | 50 |
| 2nd | Frank Lampard | England | Chelsea | 6 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 45 |
| 3rd | Steven Gerrard | England | Liverpool | 8 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 39 |
| 4th | Thierry Henry | France | Arsenal | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
| 5th | Andriy Shevchenko | Ukraine | Milan | - | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
| 6th | Paolo Maldini | Italy | Milan | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 11 |
| 7th | Adriano | Brazil | Internazionale | - | - | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
| 8th | Zlatan Ibrahimović | Sweden | Juventus | - | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| 9th | Kaká | Brazil | Milan | - | 2 | 1 | 4 | - | 7 |
| 10th | Samuel Eto'o | Cameroon | Barcelona | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| 11th | John Terry | England | Chelsea | - | 1 | - | 3 | 8 | 12 |
| 12th | Juninho | Brazil | Lyon | - | - | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| 13th | Claude Makélélé | France | Chelsea | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| 14th | Juan Román Riquelme | Argentina | Villarreal | - | - | 1 | 2 | - | 3 |
| 14th | Petr Čech | Czech Republic | Chelsea | - | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 14th | Didier Drogba | Ivory Coast | Chelsea | - | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 14th | Michael Ballack | Germany | Bayern Munich | - | - | - | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 18th | Zinedine Zidane | France | Real Madrid | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| 19th | Gianluigi Buffon | Italy | Juventus | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 20th | Jamie Carragher | England | Liverpool | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| 20th | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Manchester United | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 22nd | Michael Essien | Ghana | Lyon Chelsea | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| 23rd | Luis García | Spain | Liverpool | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| 23rd | Pavel Nedvěd | Czech Republic | Juventus | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |

### Non-voted players

The following 26 players were originally in contention for the 2005 Ballon d’Or, but did not receive any votes:
| Player | Nationality | Club(s) |
| David Beckham | England | Real Madrid |
| Mauro Camoranesi | Italy | Juventus |
| Fabio Cannavaro | Italy | Juventus |
| Grégory Coupet | France | Lyon |
| Cris | Brazil | Lyon |
| Deco | Portugal | Barcelona |
| Dida | Brazil | Milan |
| Emerson | Brazil | Juventus |
| Luís Figo | Portugal | Real Madrid Internazionale |
| Diego Forlán | Uruguay | Villarreal |
| Roy Makaay | Netherlands | Bayern Munich |
| Michael Owen | England | Real Madrid Newcastle United |
| Park Ji-sung | South Korea | PSV Eindhoven Manchester United |
| Andrea Pirlo | Italy | Milan |
| Raúl | Spain | Real Madrid |
| Arjen Robben | Netherlands | Chelsea |
| Roberto Carlos | Brazil | Real Madrid |
| Robinho | Brazil | Real Madrid |
| Ronaldo | Brazil | Real Madrid |
| Wayne Rooney | England | Manchester United |
| Lilian Thuram | France | Juventus |
| David Trezeguet | France | Juventus |
| Mark van Bommel | Netherlands | PSV Eindhoven Barcelona |
| Ruud van Nistelrooy | Netherlands | Manchester United |
| Patrick Vieira | France | Arsenal Juventus |
| Xavi | Spain | Barcelona |