The Super Ballon d'Or set for 2029 return: What is it, who has won it and who could win the next one?

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 14 Nov 2025 08:41 CST
• 4 min read

Nieuws

Everyone knows that the Ballon d'Or is given to the best footballer over the previous year.

Some of the greatest names in the history of the sport have won the Ballon d'Or - from Zinedine Zidane, to Cristiano Ronaldo, to Lionel Messi.

But, did you know there's actually a SUPER BALLON D'OR?

It was only given out once, in 1989, as voters had to decide on the player they believe to have been the best in the prior three decades. So, the 1989 vote covered from 1959 to 1989.

The first and only Super Ballon d'Or was awarded to Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano, who edged out competition from Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini in second and third, respectively.

Where's the likes of Diego Maradona and Pele, you ask? Well, they weren't included as overall Ballon d'Or voting didn't include non-Europeans until 1995.

There were three voting sectors - France Football's jury, former Ballon d'Or winners and viewers and readers of France Football.

Viewers and readers voted Platini as number one, but France Football and the panel of former Ballon d'Or winners voted for Di Stefano.

The original trophy presented to Di Stefano was kept in the Real Madrid museum at the Santiago Bernabeu but in 2021 it was auctioned off by the player's family for £187,500 and its current location is unknown.

Super Ballon d'Or to return?

The Touchline, an X account with over 1.4 million followers, reports that the Super Ballon d'Or could return in 2029 and cover the previous 30 years of players.

There has been no confirmation as to why the new edition takes place 40 years after the original.

Speculation will be rife as to who could win the award, and the conversation will no doubt land on two men - Ronaldo and Messi.

The pair defined a football generation and many consider them to be the two greatest players in the history of the sport.

From league titles, to Champions League titles to even Ballon d'Or trophies, they were and still are perennial rivals.

Messi has won eight Ballon d'Or trophies, while Ronaldo has won five and both will undoubtedly be the front-runners for the 2029 Super Ballon d'Or, though there will be other names in the mix.

Prior to Messi and Ronaldo we have the likes of Ronaldo, Luis Figo, and Zinedine Zidane, while Kylian Mbappe will be in the mix from the new generation.

What is the FIFA Ballon d’Or?

The Ballon d’Or has been its own award since 1956, but between 2010 and 2015, it merged with FIFA’s ‘World Player of the Year’ award to form the FIFA Ballon d’Or.

The FIFA World Player of the Year had been an award between 1991 and 2009, with both Ronaldo Nazario and Zinedine Zidane winning it three times, before it joined with the Ballon d’Or in 2010.

Messi won the first-ever joint award, and he retained it in 2011 and 2012 before Ronaldo won successive awards in 2013 and 2014. Messi then won the final iteration of the award in 2015.

For 2016, FIFA and France Football parted ways, with the Ballon d’Or back to being its own independent award. FIFA, meanwhile, resurrected its previous award under a new name: The Best FIFA Men’s Player, which Messi won in 2023.