The Ballon d’Or is a testimony to a player’s brilliance in football. Several legendary footballers have won the prestigious awards and etched their name in the history of football.
This year the likes of Real Madrid duo Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham could potentially join the elite list. On that note, let us have a look at the youngest Ballon d’Or winners in the history.
Ronaldo Nazario
Ronaldo Nazario is the youngest player in football history to win the Ballon d’Or. He received the award on the 23rd of December 1997, at the age of 21 years, three months and five days, Nazario had just won the Copa America, the Copa del Rey, finished top scorer in La Liga with Barcelona and, in the summer, moved to Inter Milan, where he is discovering Serie A.
The Brazilian centre-forward went on to win a second Ballon d’Or in 2002 following his sensational performances at the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, scoring in the final against Germany.
Michael Owen
Michael Owen was crowned Ballon d’Or winner aged 22 years and four days in 2001. He won the award ahead of Raul Gonzalez and Oliver Kahn following a sensational start to the 2001/02 season, scoring 11 goals in 17 games.
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Owen came from putting up an impressive show in the 2000/01 season. The striker was part of the team winning the FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield, Super Cup and UEFA Cup. He scored 24 goals and provided seven assists, In 46 games he played across all competitions.
Lionel Messi
In 2009, Lionel Messi became the first player from Argentina in history to win the Ballon d’Or award. He won his first Ballon d’Or aged 22 years, 5 months and 7 days. He would go on to win seven more. He won the honor accumulating a remarkable 98.5% of the votes.
Messi was with Barcelona in 2009 when the team won six titles- La Liga, Spanish Cup, Champions League, Spanish Supercup, European Supercup and Club World Cup- in the same season.
George Best
George Best won the award in 1968 aged 22 years, 7 months and 2 days. He was with Manchester United when he first won his Ballon d’Or. With this, he gave the Red Devils their second Ballon d’Or succeeding Bobby Charlton.
Also Read: Complete List Of Ballon d’Or 2024 Nominees Across Categories
Oleg Blokhin
Oleg Blokhin was just 23 years, one month and 25 days old when he was crowned Ballon d’Or winner in 1975, ahead of Franz Beckenbauer and Cruyff. He became the second Soviet winner in history to win the award two years after Lev Yashin.
Two years after Lev Yashin, the native of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic became the second Soviet winner in history, completing an exceptional season. He was the top scorer Dynamo Kyiv in the Soviet championship.
