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What is the Ballon d'Or? When is the winner announced? 2016 shortlist confirmed
THE Ballon d'Or is one of the biggest honours a footballer can receive - so here is everything you need to know about the award.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have shared the last seven Ballon d'Or awards
What is the Ballon d'Or?
The Ballon d'Or is an award that is given out every year to the footballer considered to have performed best in the previous 12 months.
It was started in 1956 by the magazine France Football when chief writer Gabriel Hanot came up with the idea.
The inaugural winner was Blackpool's Stanley Matthews. in 1995, the eligibility criteria were expanded to allow non-Europeans to be selected and Liberia's George Weah duly won the award for that year.
OFFICIAL: Messi wins fifth Ballon d'Or award
In 2010, the award merged with FIFA's World Player of the Year and Lionel Messi won the first three editions of the new prize before Cristiano Ronaldo claimed the next two.
Messi won the Ballon d'Or again last year but France Football and FIFA ended their association in September and the magazine will return to their independent format in 2016.
Kevin De Bruyne
Paulo Dybala
Diego Godin
Antoine Griezmann
Gonzalo Higuain
Zlatan Ibrahmovic
Andres Iniesta
Koke
Robert Lewandowski
Thomas Muller
Riyad Mahrez has been nominated this year after helping Leicester win the title
Luka Modric
Riyad Mahrez
Lionel Messi
Hugo Lloris
Manuel Neuer
Neymar
Dimitri Payet
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of eight nominees
Pepe
Paul Pogba
Rui Patricio
Sergio Ramos
Luis Suarez
Jamie Vardy
Arturo Vidal
How is the Ballon d'Or winner decided?
When the award first started, the voting was confined to European journalists.
Stanley Matthews won the first ever Ballon d'Or in 1956
But when FIFA took over the administration of the Ballon d'Or, they changed the voting to include the captain and coach of every national team as well as journalists from across the globe.
However, France Football returned to the previous system this year.
Who has won the Ballon d'Or the most?
Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten all won the award three times each before the merger with FIFA version.
Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten have both won the Ballon d'Or three times
Since 2009 though, Lionel Messi has won a record five times and is therefore regarded as the most successful footballer in the history of the Ballon d'Or.
Cristiano Ronaldo has a total of three wins across the two different formats.
Who has won the Ballon d'Or?
1956 Stanley Matthews
1957 Alfredo Di Stefano
1958 Raymond Kopa
1959 Alfredo Di Stefano
1960 Luis Suarez
1961 Omar Sivori
1962 Josef Masopust
1963 Lev Yashin
1964 Denis Law
1965 Eusebio
1966 Bobby Charlton
1967 Florian Albert
1968 George Best
1969 Gianni Rivera
Kevin Keegan won the Ballon d'Or twice while playing for Hamburg in Germany
1970 Gerd Muller
1971 Johan Cruyff
1972 Franz Beckenbauer
1973 Johan Cruyff
1974 Johan Cruyff
1975 Oleg Blokhin
1976 Franz Beckenbauer
1977 Allan Simonsen
1978 Kevin Keegan
1979 Kevin Keegan
1980 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
1981 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
1982 Paolo Rossi
1983 Michel Platini
1984 Michel Platini
1985 Michel Platini
1986 Igor Belanov
George Weah was the first non-European to win the Ballon d'Or
1987 Ruud Gullit
1988 Marco van Basten
1989 Marco van Basten
1990 Lothar Matthaus
1991 Jean-Pierre Papin
1992 Marco van Basten
1993 Roberto Baggio
1994 Hristo Stoichkov
1995 George Weah
1996 Matthias Sammer
1997 Ronaldo
1998 Zinedine Zidane
1999 Rivldo
2000 Luis Figo
2001 Michael Owen
2002 Ronaldo
2003 Pavel Nedved
2004 Andriy Shevchenko
Michael Owen was the last Englishman to win the Ballon d'Or back in 2001
2005 Ronaldinho
2006 Fabio Cannavaro
2007 Kaka
2008 Cristiano Ronaldo
2009 Lionel Messi
2010 Lionel Messi
2011 Lionel Messi
2012 Lionel Messi
2013 Cristiano Ronaldo
2014 Cristiano Ronaldo
2015 Lionel Messi
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