Ballon d'Or winners by position

When the football season ramps up to its busy winter schedule, one thing is always on everybody's mind: namely, who will take home the coveted Ballon d'Or trophy.

For over 60 years, the award has served as the highest individual accolade a footballer can win, marking them out from their peers as the best of the best and honouring their achievements at both club and international level.

Since 2008, only a few players not named Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi have won the award but as their careers come to a close, the door opens for some fresh faces to stand tallest on the podium.

Even before the dominance of Messi and Ronaldo, the award has always seemed to favour forwards more than players in other positions. But which position boasts the most winners over history?

• Ballon d'Or winners by country
• Ballon d'Or winners by league

Goalkeepers - 1 win

A goalkeeper winning the Ballon d'Or today is all but unthinkable, with even the best shot-stoppers of modern times failing to pick up the award. The only goalkeeper to win the Ballon d'Or is the legendary Lev Yashin back in 1963.

Credited with pioneering the concept of the 'sweeper keeper', Yashin was known for his powerful presence in the box and ability to rush out and claim the ball from oncoming attackers, paving the way for the likes of Alisson, Ederson and Manuel Neuer in the modern era.

Centre-backs - 4 wins

Another position consistently overlooked in the race for the Ballon d'Or, only three centre-backs have won the award in its almost 70-year history.

Franz Beckenbauer, the iconic German defender and inventor of the libero position, picked up the award in 1972 and again in 1976. After that, it would be another 20 years before a centre-back won the award, with Matthias Sammer, who could also play in midfield, having shone as a sweeper for Borussia Dortmund.

It was another decade before Italy's Fabio Cannavaro led his country to their fourth World Cup victory in 2006 and was named the Ballon d'Or winner as a result

Full-backs - 0 wins

If you're Trent Alexander-Arnold or Alphonso Davies, look away now because this section makes for grim reading.

No full-back has ever won the Ballon d'Or. This feels like a major oversight, until you remember that full-backs only became proper footballers in 2017 when Manchester City spent £50m on Kyle Walker.

As full-backs continue to become pivotal to the systems of the world's top sides, perhaps we can expect to see one or two join the ranks of the elite in years to come.

Central midfielders - 4 wins

The game can be won and lost in midfield, or so they say. Even so, only four central midfielders have managed to win the Ballon d'Or since the inception of the award.

Modric's unbelievable performances in 2018 broke up the hegemony of Messi and Ronaldo, but it was the likes of Josef Masopust and Lothar Matthaus who paved the way for the Croatian.

2024's prize was claimed not only by a central midfielder, but one that primarily plays in a holding role. Manchester City and Spain enforcer Rodri dazzled at club and international level en route to scooping the award.

Attacking midfielders - 9 wins

Now we're talking. As we move into the more offensive positions, let's take a look at all the attacking midfielders to win the Ballon d'Or.

France have produced a conveyor belt of elegant No.10s in recent years and they dominate this section of the list, with Michel Platini winning the award three times on his own in the 1980s.

The last attacking midfielder to win the Ballon d'Or was Brazilian ace Kaka, who won on the back of a Champions League win with Milan in 2007.

Wingers - 7 wins

This section would look a little more impressive if we counted Ronaldo and Messi as wingers, but both players have operated more as out-and-out forwards in recent years so we've opted against doing that. Even so, the list of wingers to win the Ballon d'Or boasts some rather impressive names.

Stanley Matthews was the inaugural winner of the award back in 1956. Since then, he's been joined by the likes of George Best, Luis Figo and Ronaldinho - all dazzling players who are still talked about today. It surely won't be long before another winger joins this list.

Forwards - 43 wins

Critics of the Ballon d'Or claim it skews too far in favour of strikers and forwards, with other positions overlooked. Why on Earth would they think that?

It's often said that scoring a goal is the hardest thing to do in football, so maybe it's fair that all these incredible goalscorers have beaten their contemporaries to football's highest individual accolade.

It should also be noted that Messi and Ronaldo have 13 awards between them, making the overall list look even more imbalanced.

The real question to be asking is which forward is going to win more in the next decade: Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappe?

READ MORE ON THE 2024 BALLON D'OR NOMINEES & FAVOURITES