Quiz! Can you name every Ballon d'Or top 10 since 2000?

By Mark White
published

Some of the greatest players of all time have picked up the Golden Ball over the years - we want you to tell us who's done it in the 21st Century

Real Madrid's French forward Karim Benzema poses upon arrival to attend the 2022 Ballon d'Or France Football award ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on October 17, 2022.
(Image credit: FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)

15 minutes on the clock, 222 players to guess - though some appear multiple times, of course.

Remember to tweet your scores @FourFourTwo - spoiler-free, please! - and share with your friends.

NOW TRY Quiz! Can you name every player to finish in the Ballon d’Or top three from 1995 to 2022?

The Ballon d'Or was conceived in the 1950s by a French football magazine, who we assume named themselves QuatreQuatreDeux. 

Football had already gone global by then. We'd had a few World Cups and some very British gentlemen had taken balls to all sorts of places and showed fellows overseas the sport that they'd come to whup us at for the coming century.

By the time the Ballon d'Or came along, we were starting to play each other at club level. The European Cup had been formed - and since we all had a better idea of the better teams and players on the continent, it made sense to appoint a best player each year. 

By the 2000s, however, football was more global than ever, with TV broadcasting around the world and the internet shining a little more fame on a few more faces. With that in mind, you should have heard of everyone on today's list...

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Mark White
Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White has been at on FourFourTwo since joining in January 2020, first as a staff writer before becoming content editor in 2023. An encyclopedia of football shirts and boots knowledge – both past and present – Mark has also represented FFT at both FA Cup and League Cup finals (though didn't receive a winners' medal on either occasion) and has written pieces for the mag ranging on subjects from Bobby Robson's season at Barcelona to Robinho's career. He has written cover features for the mag on Mikel Arteta and Martin Odegaard, and is assisted by his cat, Rosie, who has interned for the brand since lockdown.