Who was the last defender to win the Ballon d'Or?

The art of defending is one typically overlooked during awards season.

Since the Ballon d'Or's inception in 1956, there have been just a few instances of voters preferring glorious stoutness over magesterial playmaking, dazzling wing-play, or prolfiic goal-getting. It's those doing the creating and scoring that win the hearts and minds, while the soldiers tasked with stopping the artists are looked upon with disdain.

They're preventing all the fun from happening.

Nevertheless, there have been defensive performances so otherworldly that they simply had to be recognised to the highest degree. There have been enterprising pioneers, sound sweepers, and pristine fundamentalists who have got their hands on the award, although we haven't seen a defender claim Ballon d'Or glory in almost 20 years.

Who was the last defender to win the Ballon d'Or?

It is usually difficult for defenders to get the same kind of individual recognition as attackers. After all, football has always been more about scoring goals while stopping them becomes an afterthought.

Yet defensive players haven’t been totally absent from the Ballon d’Or history books. In fact, legendary England centre-back Billy Wright was runner-up in the second edition of the award way back in 1957. Franz Beckenbauer was the first defender to win it, doing so in 1972 and again in 1976, while fellow German sweeper Matthias Sammer was later honoured in 1996.

The last defender to win the Ballon d’Or, and actually still the only non-German, was Fabio Cannavaro in 2006. It was goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon who came second behind his Italy and Juventus teammate, beating third place Thierry Henry.

On top of the Ballon d’Or, Cannavaro also received the rival FIFA World Player of the Year prize to make him the only defender to win that over the course of its entire 19-year existence.

Why did Fabio Cannavaro win the Ballon d'Or in 2006?

The main thing that underpinned Cannavaro’s Ballon d’Or win was the 2006 World Cup.

The talismanic centre-back captained Italy to what was actually a pretty unexpected triumph when the likes of Brazil, England and France were heavily fancied before the tournament.

As a footballing nation, Italy was also embroiled in the Calciopoli scandal that saw Juventus stripped of Serie A titles and relegated, as well as AC Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina sanctioned. That made their World Cup triumph all the more special and Cannavaro in particular embodied that siege mentality and spirit more than any other player with his performances. The Italian produced one of the all-time great individual World Cup performances in the Azzurri's semi-final victory over hosts Germany.

2006 also saw 33-year-old Cannavaro win Serie A Defender of the Year for the second consecutive year, as well as Serie A Footballer of the Year.

The combination of Juve’s relegation and his outstanding World Cup earned Cannavaro a cut-price transfer to Real Madrid, where he finished the calendar year and would later win back-to-back La Liga titles.

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