Lionel Messi is once again in possession of the Ballon d'Or trophy, but for a change, it's not because of an overwhelming, dominant season for his club. Messi's achievement for his country, not Messi has won FIFA’s World Player Trophy a record seven times, including four consecutive wins between 2009 and 2011, and Europe’s Ballon d’Or a record eight times. Having completed football by guiding Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title, no one could really argue with Lionel Messi scooping his latest Ballon d’Or award. While the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe must be sick of the sight of the 36-year-old at the podium, one has to wonder if this eighth time will finally be his last. The 2022 Ballon d’or will be presented in October, with the prestigious award now being given to the best player over a season rather than a calendar year. Ballon d’Or 2022 - Lionel Messi PARIS — The list reads 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, and now 2023. Lionel Messi won the men’s Ballon d’Or for a record-extending eighth time on The wait is over. Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema won his first career Ballon d'Or on Monday, October 17, becoming the second oldest player to win the award at age 34 and the oldest since Which is why it seemed fair to provide only two options — Messi or Haaland — in reaching out to some of the top American soccer media voices to gauge their preference for the Ballon d’Or The winner of the 2021 edition was Lionel Messi and he has won the award the most number of times. However, it makes for an interesting look as to how many times he has won the Ballon d’Or as compared to other players. Here is a look at the top 10 players with the most Ballon d’Or awards in football history: 10. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge – 2 Then in 2016, they went back and did an "international re-evaluation" to calculate who should have won the Ballon d'Or had it always been global - and retrospectively gave Pele seven: for 1958 A. Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or 2019 for the 7th time by the finest of margins. Ballond'or 2023: Get all the latest Ballon d'Or news, Player rankings 2023, and a list of all the Ballon d'Or RSaKs.