Ballon d'Or: Organisers clarify criteria, say World Cup win isn't enough

France Football has weighed in on the ongoing debate about what it takes to win the Ballon d’Or. They said that winning the FIFA World Cup does not guarantee that a player will win football’s top individual award anymore.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup happening in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, the magazine looked back at the history of the Ballon d’Or. They examined how closely the award has been linked to World Cup wins since 1995, when players outside Europe became eligible.

The organisers shared this information in a statement on their website on Tuesday.

In the past, World Cup winners often went on to win the Ballon d’Or. England’s Bobby Charlton, Italy’s Paolo Rossi, and Germany’s Lothar Matthäus all achieved this. France’s Zinedine Zidane, Brazil’s Ronaldo, and Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro also won the Ballon d’Or after their World Cup wins in 1998, 2002, and 2006.

But this trend has changed in recent years.

In 2010, Spain won the World Cup in South Africa, yet the Ballon d’Or went to Lionel Messi. Spain’s Andrés Iniesta and Xavi did not win. Four years later, Cristiano Ronaldo won the award even though Portugal did not win the World Cup. He beat Argentina’s Messi and Germany’s Manuel Neuer, who had lifted the trophy.

A similar situation happened in 2018 when Croatia’s Luka Modrić won the Ballon d’Or after leading his team to the World Cup final, even though they lost to France.

The World Cup-Ballon d’Or double returned in 2022 when Messi led Argentina to World Cup victory, then won the Ballon d’Or the following year.

According to France Football, only four out of the seven players whose teams won the World Cup since 1995 also won the Ballon d’Or the same year. This gives a success rate of about 57 percent.

The magazine concluded that just winning the World Cup is no longer enough to guarantee the Ballon d’Or.

"Yes, winning the World Cup helps, but it does not guarantee a Ballon d’Or. To win it, you need to have been the best player of the season, not only of the World Cup," they said.