Ballon d'Or awards revisited by BigSoccer users

I think maybe the issue is that by letting people (understandably) vote using seasons Messi does have some big support for 2013 (which he didn't win in reality, and the end of the calendar year was probably crucial) based on the full 2012/13 season.

Whether Pele would have had as many as 8 Ballon d'Ors himself in reality if it had been a worldwide award is hard to gauge for sure I think. It's perhaps feasible (I didn't end up giving him 1958 or 1970 myself for example, but those two are surely good probabilities or at least possibilities with a 'traditional' Ballon d'Or panel vote with big weight on the World Cup, and with the former being a calendar year where he scored a lot and at least one Brazilian source we have found or whimsy on Twitter found was it had him as top player of that year worldwide...and then 1970 is and would have been seen as a kind of 'consecration' of his career and perhaps there isn't a clear alternative candidate that would gather a certain high percentage of top placings given the European players split votes among them and the Brazilians in general didn't play a lot of football during the year so it wasn't like Pele was particularly an outlier among the World Champions in that respect)
European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") 1970 (rsssf.org)

EDIT - I guess a worldwide Ballon d'Or would/should have a worldwide panel, so in theory that adds another dimension (including which European players got most votes from South American panelists, not just vice versa - i.e the balance in the European-only vote could feasibly change somewhat if it was a bigger worldwide panel - there would probably have been an issue with how much regular football people would even be able to see from other continents though in reality, although clearly some sources did do some polls about the best players in the world in particular years as we have seen....).

 

Probably what 2012/13 is for Messi 1968/69 is for Pele though, I guess I should add (Pele's total perhaps bumped up by the new concept of voting based on seasons by many of our voters in that case too - I saw/see his case as being better using 1968/69 - aligned with the European calendar or as close as feasible - than all of 1969 alone anyway I'm pretty sure)....

EDIT here too: and perhaps, funnily enough, (1969/)1970 and 2022/23 have strong parallels too re: Pele and Messi!

 

8-8, 8-7, 6-7, 6-6, 9-7, 11-10... it's all feasible without planning to fix anything. Who would have 11-10 tho? (I swear it was not planned in any way).

I would not pay much attention neither to what you @IceBlood34 read on twitter. Of course, it's no surprise.

At times, I found that publishing the reddit voters' votes was interesting to re-evaluate my view. At other times, to understand or to confirm why I certainly would not ... in all cases, it always can feed the reflexion, so it is difficult to discredit (no pun intended) them.
But yeah, at the same time, I understand all these doubts that I share.

It's not a proof of better judgement or anything since there's always a part of subjectivity but I think that the members over here who discuss History of Football are really, deeply, interested in the historical dimension of the game for sure. And since some time.

Inviting some Reddit users may have had as a result that some of these people did more researches than ever, really got into the History of Football thing and started to be more "expert" too, which is a good thing.

 

In 1948 I put Puskas 1st and Matthews 2nd.
In 2023 I voted like this: Messi/de Bruyne/Mbappé/Haaland/Griezmann. I want to change this to: Messi / Mbappé / Haaland / de Bruyne / Griezmann

I wanted to put Rodri in the top5 but is impossible to leave out one of these players.

 

In 1948 I would add Ely do Amparo (DM) and Moacyr Barbosa (GK). The first one was elected by brazilian media the best player of South American Championship won by Vasco da Gama over Di Stefano's River Plate, then He entered in the XI of Carioca Championship (Globo Sportivo). The other one, the legendary goalkeeper Barbosa was the best GK in South American Championship and Carioca Championship that year.

 

Some important players' stats in Brazil 40s:

Vevé (Flamengo) in 1942:
26 matches
17 goals
16 assists
Carioca Champion
numbers collected by @IamDDxd (X twitter)

Isaías Benedicto (Vasco/Brazil) in 1944:
28 matches
18 goals
16 assists
Carioca runner-up
Municipal Champion
Relâmpago Champion
This numbers doesn't count Torneio Início that was official but with 20 minutes matches
(It'd add 3 matches, 2 goals and 2 assists)
numbers collected by @EstudeVasco (X twitter)

Heleno de Freitas (Botafogo/Brazil) in 1945:
33 jogos
30 gols
6 assistências
South American Extra Championship runner-up
Carioca Runner-up
Copa Roca Champion
numbers collected by @EstudeVasco (X twitter)

Ademir de Menezes (Vasco/Brazil) in 1945:
34 jogos
30 gols
13 assistências
South American Extra Championship runner-up
Copa Roca Champion
Carioca Champion
Municipal Champion
numbers collected by @EstudeVasco (X twitter)

Ademir de Menezes (Fluminense/Brazil) in 1946:
39 jogos
32 gols
12 assistências
South American Extra Championship runner-up
Carioca Champion

I think these players could be at least Top 5 in those years.

 

My original vote was for Pelé and I changed it for Garrincha, and then my vote returned in favor of Pelé because of the influence he had in the games against Benfica. Furthermore, Pelé would still have won 8 Ballon d'Ors without me changing my vote because he would have shared a Ballon d'Or with Garrincha. Anyway, I could change my vote in the future, but I will do so in my personal Ballon d'Or. As for the comments on Twitter, they have no relevance because the majority are ignorant people who have no idea about football.

 

Do you have the career numbers for Ademir de Menezes? From other seasons? And would you have detailed games in which each goal and assist was made? I think it would be wonderful to share.

 

Yes, I do!

Ademir in official competitions (all career):

◉ 403 games (34.070m)
◉ 318 goals (0,84 p90)
◉ 311 non-penalty goals (0,82 p90)
◉ 121 assists (0,32 p90)
◉ 1,16 G+A p90
◉ 1,14 G+A-PK p90
◉ 78 min to score or assist
◉ 39% of goals involvment (439/1125)
◉ 22 titles

I used the book "Almanaque do Vasco" and the websites "Flunômeno" and "Blog do Marcão" to search his matches and goals for both clubs (Vasco and Fluminense). His assists I found searching in Jornal dos Sports, A Noite, Sport Illustrado, O Jornal, Globo Sportivo and others newspappers (memoria.bn).

His matches, goals and assists for Sport Recife I found in "Diario de Pernambuco" (memoria.bn).

His matches and goals for Seleção I found in rsssf. His NT's assists were found in the same newspappers I already mentioned here.

I have all the matches. I'm gonna build a doc with them all and put somewhere here.

 

I forgot to show my votes for the last 2 decades. I really still believe that it is very complex to do this. Honestly I'm not convinced of anything. Sometimes the votes go without any conviction. It seems almost impossible to me to judge players who play in different positions. At a certain point the statistics can be useless in some cases. Also saying that titles don't matter would be hypocritical on my part. Anyway, whatever the results are I will be dissatisfied.

By the way, my vote is generally calendar year because I think it's the best way to judge a player

2010s

2010: 1 Sneijder 2 Messi 3 Xavi 4 Iniesta 5 Cristiano
2011: 1 Messi 2 Cristiano 3 Xavi 4 Iniesta 5 Rooney
2012: 1 Messi 2 Cristiano 3 Iniesta 4 Xavi 5 Pirlo
2013: 1 Rivery 2 Cristiano 3 Messi 4 Ibrahimovic 5 Robben
2014: 1 Cristiano 2 Messi 3 Neuer 4 Robben 5 Thomas Muller
2015: 1 Messi 2 Cristiano 3 Neymar 4 Suarez 5 Lewandowski
2016: 1 Cristiano 2 Messi 3 Suarez 4 Griezmann 5 Neymar
2017: 1 Cristiano 2 Messi 3 Neymar 4 Modric 5 Buffon
2018: 1 Griezmann 2 Modric 3 Cristiano 4 Messi 5 Salah
2019: 1 Messi 2 van Djik 3 Mané 4 Cristiano Ronaldo 5 Salah

2020s

2020: 1 Lewandowski 2 Cristiano 3 Messi 4 Mbappé 5 De Bruyne
2021: 1 Messi 2 Lewandowski 3 Kanté 4 Benzema 5 Jorginho
2022: 1 Messi 2 Mbappe 3 Benzema 4 Modric 5 Halaand
2023: 1 Haaland 2 Mbappé 3 De Bruyne 4 Rodri 5 Vinicius

 

Regarding the final results, I think the majority is against Pelé because he won 8 Ballon d'Ors, one more that France Football magazine gave him. However, no one said that Puskás, Di Stéfano, Maradona and Cristiano were benefited thanks to Bigsoccer's historical revisionism

 

Pelé would probably win the Ballon d'Or in 1973, for example, a year that everyone ignored, if the criteria is the same as today, (productivity + fame). Pelé had 37 G+A in 39 games (almost 1.0 g+A per game) and won the award for best player in South America. He was the most famous player in the world, especially for his achievements in the 1970 World Cup, Cruyff only Europeans knew about.

Perhaps the best comparison would be Pelé 1973 vs Messi 2021.

The two did not win a major title and won based on these two criteria (productivity + fame).

They will say about the 2021 Copa América, but Copa América never counted, or Robinho, Adriano and Batistuta would have been the best in the world. It was for fame + productivity. According to this criterion, Pelé would be a strong competitor for the Ballon d'Or in 1973.

 

fame is not a criterion today lol

 

Really?

 

2023
1. Haaland, 2. Mbappé, 3. Bellingham, 4. Kane, 5. Rodri

(waiting for December the 15th maybe will not change this)

 

TOP 1989-90

In this ranking I have taken into account the rankings of the following awards: Nallon d'Or, World Soccer World Player of the Year, Best Player of America, both from El Mundo and El País, the Onze de Onze and the average ratings and membership of ideal teams of the world championship. This first one is the ranking that I think should be considered for the purpose of this thread because it is more objective than the one I have done myself.

En este ranking he tenido en cuenta las clasificaciones de los siguientes premios: Balón de Oro, World Soccer World Player of the Year, Mejor jugador de América, tanto de El Mundo como de El País, el Onze de Onze y los promedios de ratings y pertenencia a equipos ideales del campeonato del mundo. Este que pongo el primero es el ranking que creo que hay que considerar en el propósito de este hilo por tener un carácter más objetivo que el realizado por mí mismo.

1.- Matthaus (Alemania)
2.- Schillaci (Italia)
3.- Brehme (Alemania)
4.- Baresi (Italia)
5.- Scifo (Bélgica)
6.- Gascoigne (Inglaterra); 7.- Klinsmann (Alemania); 8.- Baggio, Roberto (Italia); 9.- Buchwald (Alemania); 10.- Maradona (Argentina); 11.- Zenga (Italia); 12.- Stojkovic (Yugoslavia); 13.- Papin (Francia); 14.- Martín Vázquez (España); 15.- Rijkaard (Holanda); 16.- Voller (Alemania); 17.- Platt (Inglaterra); 18.- Lineker (Inglaterra); 19.- Conejo (Costa Rica); 21.- Barnes, John (Inglaterra); 22.- Milla, Roger (Camerún); 23.- Goycoechea (Argentina); 24.- Waddle (Inglaterra); 25.- Hassler (Alemania); 26.- Caniggia (Argentina); 27.- Kohler (Alemania); 28.- Prosinecki (Yugoslavia); 29.- Zubizarreta (España); 30.- Alemao (Brasil); 31.- Higuita (Colombia); 32.- Bergomi (Italia); 33.- Hugo Sánchez (México); 34.- Donadoni (Italia); 35.- Maldini (Italia); 36.- Littbarski (Alemania); 37.- Van Basten (Holanda); 38.- McGrath (Irlanda); 39.- Walker, Des (Inglaterra); 40.- Giannini (Italia); 41.- Skuhravy (Checoslovaquia); 42.- Popescu (Rumanía); 43.- Hagi (Rumanía); 44.- Hasek (Checoslovaquia); 45.- Wright, Mark (Inglaterra); 46.- Romario (Brasil); 47.- De Agostini (Italia); 48.- Taffarel (Brasil); 49.- Cantona (Francia); 50.- Koeman, Ronald (Holanda); 51.- Van Breukelen (Holanda); 52.- Stoichkov (Bulgaria); 53.- Stejskal (Checoslovaquia); 54.- Shilton (Inglaterra); 55.- Mozer (Brasil); 56.- Sauzée (Francia); 57.- Valdo (Brasil); 58.- Preud´homme (Bélgica); 59.- Ceulemans (Bélgica); 60.- Vierchowod (Italia); 61.- Blanc (Francia); 62.- Demol (Bélgica); 63.- Weah (Liberia); 64.- Branco (Brasil); 65.- Francescoli (Uruguay); 66.- Dunga (Brasil); 67.- Tacconi (Italia); 68.- Degryse (Bélgica); 69.- Hansen (Escocia)

In this other ranking, I have based it on aspects such as ratings in the different competitions, collective classifications and individual merits, ideal teams from different magazines and awards to the best national or international players. Regarding the awards mentioned in the previous ranking, they are also taken into consideration, but to a lesser extent. The sifting of players and the final order of the same obey an exclusively personal criterion according to the above. It is a "more subjective" classification.

En esta otra clasificación me he basado en aspectos como los ratings en las diferentes competiciones, clasificaciones colectivas y méritos individuales, equipos ideales de diversas revistas y premios a los mejores futbolistas nacionales o internacionales. Respecto a los premios mencionados en el ranking anterior, también se tienen en consideración, pero en una menor proporción. La criba de futbolistas y el orden final de los mismos obedecen a un criterio exclusivamente personal de acuerdo a lo expuesto. Es una clasificación “más subjetiva”.


1.- Matthaus, Lothar (Alemania, Inter); 2.- Baresi, Franco (Italia, Milán); 3.- Brehme, Andreas (Alemania, Inter); 4.- Maradona, Diego (Argentina, Nápoles); 5.- Schillaci, Salvatore (Italia, Juventus); 6.- Scifo, Enzo (Bélgica, Auxerre); 7.- Klinsmann, Jürgen (Alemania, Inter); 8.- Gascoigne, Paul (Inglaterra, Tottenham); 9.- Rijkaard, Frank (Holanda, Milán); 10.- Buchwald, Guido (Alemania, Stuttgart); 11.- Papin, Jean-Pierre (Francia, Marsella); 12.- Kohler, Jürgen (Alemania, Bayern Munich); 13.- Hassler, Thomas (Alemania, Colonia); 14.- Zenga, Walter (Italia, Inter); 15.- Barnes, John (Inglaterra, Liverpool); 16.- Baggio, Roberto (Italia, Fiorentina); 17.- Voller, Rudi (Alemania, Roma); 18.- Prosinecki, Robert (Yugoslavia, Estrella Roja); 19.- Zubizarreta, Andoni (España, Barcelona); 20.- Lineker, Gary (Inglaterra, Tottenham); 21.- Sánchez, Hugo (México, Real Madrid); 22.- Stojkovic, Dragan (Yugoslavia, Estrella Roja); 23.- Goycoechea, Sergio (Argentina, Millonarios); 24.- Littbarski, Pierre (Alemania, Colonia); 25.- Maldini, Paolo (Italia, Milán); 26.- Martín Vázquez, Rafael (España, Real Madrid); 27.- Van Basten, Marco (Holanda, Milán); 28.- Stoichkov, Hristo (Bulgaria, Sredets Sofia); 29.- Milla, Roger (Camerún, JS Saint-Pierroise); 30.- Platt, David (Inglaterra, Aston Villa); 31.- Alemao (Brasil, Nápoles); 32.- De Agostini, Luigi (Italia, Juventus); 33.- Waddle, Chris (Inglaterra, Olympique de Marsella); 34.- Romario (Brasil, PSV Eindhoven); 35.- Bergomi, Giuseppe (Italia, Inter); 36.- Cantona, Eric (Francia, Montpellier); 37.- Popescu, Gheorge (Rumanía, Steaua Bucarest); 38.- Skuhravy, Thomas (Checoslovaquia, Sparta de Praga); 39.- Taffarel (Brasil, Internacional); 40.- Conejo, Luis Gabelo (Costa Rica, CS Cartaginés); 41.- Hasek, Ivan (Checoslovaquia, Sparta de Praga); 42.- Koeman, Ronald (Holanda, Barcelona); 43.- Caniggia, Claudio (Argentina, Atalanta); 44.- Vierchowod, Pietro (Italia, Sampdoria); 45.- Valdo (Brasil, Benfica); 46.- Blanc, Laurent (Francia, Montpellier); 47.- Walker, Des (Inglaterra, Nottingham Forest); 48.- Higuita (Colombia, Nacional de Medellín); 49.- Donadoni, Roberto (Italia, Milán); 50.- Francescoli, Enzo (Uruguay, Olympique de Marsella); 51.- Preud’homme, Michel (Bélgica, Racing de Malinas); 52.- Tacconi, Stefano (Italia, Juventus); 53.- Sauzée, Franck (Francia, Olympique de Marsella); 54.- Degryse, Marc (Bélgica, Anderlecht); 55.- Van Breukelen, Hans (Holanda, PSV); 56.- Giannini, Giuseppe (Italia, Roma); 57.- Mozer, Carlos (Brasil, Olympique de Marsella); 58.- Demol, Stephane (Bélgica, Oporto); 59.- Shilton, Peter (Inglaterra, Derby County); 60.- Weah, George (Liberia, Mónaco); 61.- Wright, Mark (Inglaterra, Derby County);
62.- Stejskal, Jan (Checoslovaquia, Sparta de Praga); 63.- McGrath, Paul (Irlanda, Aston Villa); 64.- Hagi, Gica (Rumanía, Steaua de Bucarest); 65.- Hansen, Alan (Escocia, Liverpool); 66.- Ceulemans, Jan (Bélgica, Brujas); 67.- Branco (Brasil, Oporto); 68.- Dunga (Brasil, Fiorentina)

XI IDEAL

Zenga; Bergomi, Baresi, Buchwald, Brehme; Matthaus, Scifo, Gascoigne; Maradona; Schillaci, Klinsmann,

 

great! matthäus & others german players were fabulous in that season

 

Editing my latest 1990s summary (I think it is best to re-post for the full decade as it makes it easier to keep track of things overall), after Titanlux's 1989/90(/1990) confirmation, considering his provisional selection which had been factored into the standings was as shown in this post (which matches his new entry in blue, but not the actually submitted vote in black):
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/b...bigsoccer-users.2119696/page-28#post-40662423

1990 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Lothar Matthaus (W.Germany/Inter Milan) - 162
2 Diego Maradona (Argentina/Napoli) - 101
3 Franco Baresi (Italy/AC Milan) - 71
4 Andreas Brehme (W.Germany/Inter Milan) - 43
5 Salvatore Schillaci (Italy/Juventus), Marco van Basten (Netherlands/AC Milan) - 17
7 Paul Gascoigne (England/Tottenham Hotspur) - 12
8 Hugo Sanchez (Mexico/Real Madrid) - 7
9 Roberto Baggio (Italy/Fiorentina/Juventus) - 4
10 Sergio Goycochea (Argentina/Millonarios/Racing Club de Avellanados), Frank Rijkaard (Netherlands/AC Milan), Dragan Stojkovic (Yugoslavia/Red Star Belgrade/Marseille) - 3
13 Jean-Pierre Papin (France/Marseille) - 2
14 John Barnes (England/Liverpool), Guido Buchwald (W.Germany/Stuttgart), Jurgen Kohler (W.Germany/Bayern Munich), Enzo Scifo (Belgium/Auxerre) - 1

1991 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Jean-Pierre Papin (France/Marseille) - 134
2 Lothar Matthaus (Germany/Inter Milan) - 113
3 Dejan Savicevic (Yugoslavia/Red Star Belgrade) - 96
4 Darko Pancev (Yugoslavia/Red Star Belgrade) - 33.5
5 Robert Prosinecki (Yugoslavia/Red Star Belgrade) - 28
6 Gianluca Vialli (Italy/Sampdoria) - 9.5
7 Roberto Mancini (Italy/Sampdoria) - 8
8 Chris Waddle (England/Marseille) - 7.5
9 Frank Rijkaard (Netherlands/AC Milan) - 5
10 Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina/Boca Juniors/Fiorentina) - 3
11 Claudio Caniggia (Argentina/Atalanta), Hugo Sanchez (Mexico/Real Madrid), Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria/Barcelona) - 2
14 Michael Laudrup (Denmark/Barcelona) - 1.5
15 Stefan Effenberg (Germany/Bayern Munich), Romario (Brazil/PSV Eindhoven), Oscar Ruggeri (Argentina/Velez Sarsfield) - 1

1992 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Marco van Basten (Netherlands/AC Milan) - 126
2 Michael Laudrup (Denmark/Barcelona) - 82
3 Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria/Barcelona) - 78
4 Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands/Ajax) - 66
5 Peter Schmeichel (Denmark/Manchester United) - 29
6 Ronald Koeman (Netherlands/AC Milan) - 15.5
7 Rai (Brazil/Sao Paulo) - 14
8 Frank Rijkaard (Netherlands/AC Milan) - 4.5
9 Paolo Maldini (Italy/AC Milan) - 4
10 Bebeto (Brazil/Vasco da Gama/Deportivo La Coruna) - 3
11 Thomas Hassler (Germany/Roma) - 2.5
12 Franco Baresi (Italy/AC Milan), Ruud Gullit (Netherlands/AC Milan), Junior (Brazil/Flamengo), Brian Laudrup (Denmark/Bayern Munich/Fiorentina) - 1
16 Enzo Scifo (Belgium/Torino) - 0.5

1993 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Roberto Baggio (Italy/Juventus) - 165
2 Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands/Ajax/Inter Milan) - 63
3 Romario (Brazil/PSV Eindhoven/Barcelona) - 52
4 Michael Laudrup (Denmark/Barcelona) - 51
5 Eric Cantona (France/Manchester United) - 33
6 Paolo Maldini (Italy/AC Milan) - 14
7 Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria/Barcelona) - 13
8 Alen Boksic (Croatia/Marseile/Lazio) - 11
9 Franco Baresi (Italy/AC Milan) - 10
10 Carlos Valderrama (Colombia/Independiente Medellin/Atletico Junior) - 5
11 Abedi Pele (Ghana/Marseille/Lyon), Bebeto (Brazil/Deportivo La Coruna) - 4
13 Cafu (Brazil/Sao Paulo), Giussepe Signori (Italy/Lazio) - 2
15 Basile Boli (France/Marseille), Rai (Brazil/Sao Paulo/Paris St Germain) - 1

1994 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Romario (Brazil/Barcelona) - 156
2 Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria/Barcelona) - 95
3 Roberto Baggio (Italy/Juventus) - 80
4 Paolo Maldini (Italy/AC Milan) - 56.5
5 Gheorghe Hagi (Romania/Brescia/Barcelona) - 16.5
6 Giuseppe Signori (Italy/Lazio) - 8
7 Franco Baresi (Italy/AC Milan) - 6.5
8 Ruud Gullit (Netherlands/Sampdoria/AC Milan) - 2.5
9 Jose Luis Chilavert (Paraguay/Velez Sarsfield), Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany/Monaco/Tottenham Hotspur) - 2
11 Bebeto (Brazil/Deportivo La Coruna), Brolin (Sweden/Parma) - 1.5
13 Eric Cantona (France/Manchester United), Michael Laudrup (Denmark/Barcelona/Real Madrid), Jari Litmanen (Finland/Ajax) - 1

1995 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Jari Litmanen (Finland/Ajax) - 125
2 George Weah (Liberia/Paris St Germain/AC Milan) - 94
3 Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany/Tottenham Hotspur/Bayern Munich) - 53
4 Michael Laudrup (Denmark/Real Madrid) - 45
5 Paolo Maldini (Italy/AC Milan) - 24
6 Gianfranco Zola (Italy/Parma) - 18
7 Enzo Francescoli (Uruguay/River Plate) - 12
8 Frank Rijkaard (Netherlands/Ajax) - 10
9 Alessandro Del Piero (Italy/Juventus), Ronaldo (Brazil/PSV Eindhoven) - 9
11 Alan Shearer (England/Blackburn Rovers) - 8
12 Matthias Sammer (Germany/Borussia Dortmund) - 6
13 Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands/Ajax) - 5
14 Dejan Savicevic (Yugoslavia/AC Milan) - 4
15 Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina/Fiorentina), Gianluca Vialli (Italy/Juventus) - 3
17 Marc Overmars (Netherlands/Ajax) - 2
18 Ivan Zamorano (Chile/Real Madrid) - 1

1996 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Matthias Sammer (Germany/Borussia Dortmund) - 110
2 Ronaldo (Brazil/PSV Eindhoven/Barcelona) - 98
3 George Weah (Liberia/AC Milan) - 58.5
4 Alan Shearer (England/Blackburn Rovers/Newcastle United) - 49.5
5 Alessandro Del Piero (Italy/Juventus) - 29
6 Jari Litmanen (Finland/Ajax) - 25
7 Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany/Bayern Munich) - 17
8 Eric Cantona (France/Manchester United) - 15
9 Jose Luis Chilavert (Paraguay/Velez Sarsfield), Davor Suker (Croatia/Sevilla/Real Madrid) - 4
11 Enzo Francescoli (Uruguay/River Plate), Paolo Maldini (Italy/AC Milan) - 2
13 Peter Schmeichel (Denmark/Manchester United) - 1

1997 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Ronaldo (Brazil/Barcelona/Inter Milan) - 167
2 Zinedine Zidane (France/Juventus) - 87
3 Roberto Carlos (Brazil/Real Madrid) - 53
4 Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands/Arsenal) - 44
5 Predrag Mijatovic (Yugoslavia/Real Madrid) - 28
6 Romario (Brazil/Valencia/Flamengo) - 11
7 Andreas Moller (Germany/Borussia Dortmund) - 7
8 Peter Schmeichel (Denmark/Manchester United) - 6
9 Marcelo Salas (Chile/River Plate) - 5
10 Alessandro Del Piero (Italy/Juventus), Raul (Spain/Real Madrid), Alan Shearer (England/Newcastle United) - 4
13 Angelo Peruzzi (Italy/Juventus), Gianfranco Zola (Italy/Parma/Chelsea) - 2
15 Luis Figo (Portugal/Barcelona), Jurgen Kohler (Germany/Borussia Dortmund), Rivaldo (Brazil/Deportivo La Coruna/Barcelona), Davor Suker (Croatia/Real Madrid), Lilian Thuram (France/Parma) - 1

1998 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Zinedine Zidane (France/Juventus) - 149
2 Ronaldo (Brazil/Inter Milan) - 130
3 Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands/Arsenal) - 44
4 Davor Suker (Croatia/Real Madrid) - 43
5 Alessandro Del Piero (Italy/Juventus) - 29
6 Rivaldo (Brazil/Barcelona) - 25
7 Lilian Thuram (France/Parma) - 8
8 Michael Owen (England/Liverpool) - 6
9 Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina/Fiorentina) - 5
10 Fabien Barthez (France/Monaco), Predrag Mijatovic (Yugoslavia/Real Madrid) - 3
12 Roberto Carlos (Brazil/Real Madrid) - 2
13 Edgar Davids (Netherlands/AC Milan/Juventus) - 1

1999 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Rivaldo (Brazil/Barcelona) - 162
2 David Beckham (England/Manchester United) - 108
3 Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine/Dynamo Kiev/AC Milan) - 58
4 Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina/Fiorentina) - 42
5 Luis Figo (Portugal/Barcelona) - 38
6 Roy Keane (Republic of Ireland/Manchester United) - 23
7 Raul (Spain/Real Madrid) - 6
8 Alex de Souza (Brazil/Palmeiras) - 3
9 Lothar Matthaus (Germany/Bayern Munich), Zinedine Zidane (France/Juventus) - 2
11 Ryan Giggs (Wales/Manchester United), Christian Vieri (Italy/Lazio), Dwight Yorke (Trinidad & Tobago/Aston Villa/Manchester United) - 1

# The tallies for the 1990 to 1996 Ballon d'Or votes include two sets of votes from Reddit voters, and the tallies for the 1997 to 1999 versions contain three.

As you can see @IceBlood34 Schillaci has moved into a tied 5th place with Van Basten....

 

2024 Balon DOr favorites IMO:
1. Kane
2. Haaland
3. Mbappe
4. Bellingham
5. Lautaro/Messi

 

Yes, sure mate.

I'm helping out vyncy again with identifying the best positions for players in the squads of 1980/81 1st Division teams (for his entries on DBS Calcio), so if it's ok I might prioritise that for now, but for sure I will also add on all those votes for you (certainly well before Christmas hopefully, although if you're really in a rush for it then I could probably do it fairly quickly because it won't be taking me as long as the DBS Calcio work will be doing).

I'm pretty sure he means Julinho when he includes 'Botelho' by the way:
Júlio Botelho – Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre (wikipedia.org)

Interesting list to see anyway (it looks like he's predominantly or completely using seasons to me probably, and I guess that means he either feels Ronaldo did significantly more/better for Inter Milan in 01/02 than Van Basten for AC Milan in 87/88 - I'm not necessarily saying that's wrong...and it can be to do with the available alternative choices a bit too, but anyway I guess he's not necessarily around anymore to comment on anything like that, not that I think people should be 'quizzed' about their choices anyway, just that that stood out, but overall he seems to know what he's talking about for sure in terms of the names he's including I would say).

 

Actually, it makes sense to at least find time to do one decade each day (and then it should only be a few days until I've updated everything).

Here is the latest 1950s update then (adjusting what was in post #1401 to include the votes referred to in post #1673 today):

1950 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Ademir de Menezes (Brazil/Vasco da Gama) - 134
2 Ferenc Puskas (Hungary/Honved) - 94
3 Zizinho (Brazil/Flamengo/Bangu) - 87
4 Obdulio Varela (Uruguay/Penarol) - 38
5 Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay/Penarol) - 33
6 Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden/AC Milan) - 21
7 Alcides Ghiggia (Uruguay/Penarol) - 10
8 Faas Wilkes (Netherlands/Inter Milan) - 5
9 Oscar Miguez (Uruguay/Penarol) - 3
10 Giampiero Boniperti (Italy/Juventus), Telmo Zarra (Spain/Athletic Bilbao) - 1
12 Gunnar Gren (Sweden/AC Milan), Nils Liedholm (Sweden/AC Milan) - 0.5

1951 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden/AC Milan) - 141
2 Nils Liedholm (Sweden/AC Milan) - 67
3 Alfredo Di Stefano (Colombia*/Millonarios) - 42
4 Gunnar Gren (Sweden/AC Milan), Faas Wilkes (Netherlands/AC Milan) - 31
6 Ferenc Puskas (Hungary/Honved) - 27
7 Ernst Ocwirk (Austria/Austria Vienna) - 21
8 Telmo Zarra (Spain/Athletic Bilbao) - 12
9 Zizinho (Brazil/Bangu) - 10
10 Jair da Rosa Pinto (Brazil/Palmeiras) - 8
11 Istvan Nyers (Hungary/Inter Milan) - 6
12 Gerhard Hanappi (Austria/Rapid Vienna), Sandor Kocsis (Hungary/Honved) - 5
14 Stanley Matthews (England/Blackpool, Joseph Mermens (Belgium/Anderlecht) - 4
16 Tom Finney (England/Preston North End), Walter Gomez (Uruguay/River Plate), Nandor Hidegkuti (Hungary/MTK Budapest), Jackie Milburn (England/Newcastle United), Obdulio Varela (Uruguay/Penarol) - 3
21 Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay/Penarol) - 2
22 Larbi Ben Barek (France/Atletico Madrid) - 1

1952 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Ferenc Puskas (Hungary/Honved) - 152
2 Ladislao Kubala (Spain*/Barcelona) - 100
3 Sandor Kocsis (Hungary/Honved) - 82
4 Jozsef Bozsik (Hungary/Honved) - 27
5 Alfredo Di Stefano (Colombia**/Millonarios) - 16
6 Zlatko Cajkowski (Yugoslavia/Partizan Belgrade) - 12
7 Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay/Penarol) - 8
8 John Hansen (Denmark/Juventus) - 5
9 Tom Finney (England/Preston North End) - 4.5
10 Zizinho (Brazil/Bangu) - 3
11 Estanislau Basora (Spain/Barcelona), Oscar Miguez (Uruguay/Penarol), Karl Aage Praest (Denmark/Juventus) - 2
14 Ernst Ocwirk (Austria/Austria Vienna) - 1.5
15 Baltazar (Brazil/Corinthians), Walter Gomez (Uruguay/River Plate), Billy Wright (England/Wolverhampton Wanderers), Branko Zebec (Yugoslavia/Partizan Belgrade) - 1

1953 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Ferenc Puskas (Hungary/Honved) - 154
2 Nandor Hidegkuti (Hungary/MTK Budapest) - 89
3 Raymond Kopa (France/Reims) - 60
4 Stanley Matthews (England/Blackpool) - 33
5 Fritz Walter (W.Germany/Kaiserslautern) - 16
6 Nat Lofthouse (England/Bolton Wanderers) - 15
7 Jozsef Bozsik (Hungary/Honved) - 11.5
8 Tom Finney (England/Preston North End) - 9
9 Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay/Penarol) - 7
10 Alfredo Di Stefano (Argentina/Real Madrid), Ladislao Kubala (Spain*/Barcelona) - 6
12 Bernard Vukas (Yugoslavia/Hajduk Split) - 5
13 Julinho (Brazil/Portuguesa) - 4
14 John Charles (Wales/Leeds United), Billy Wright (England/Wolverhampton Wanderers) - 3
16 Garrincha (Brazil/Botafogo), Walter Gomez (Uruguay/River Plate) - 2
18 Sandor Kocsis (Hungary/Honved) - 1.5

1954 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Sandor Kocsis (Hungary/Honved) - 152
2 Fritz Walter (W.Germany/Kaiserslautern) - 96.5
3 Ferenc Puskas (Hungary/Honved) - 90.5
4 Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay/Penarol/AC Milan) - 46.5
5 Alfredo Di Stefano (Argentina/Real Madrid) - 21
6 Nandor Hidegkuti (Hungary/MTK Budapest) - 9
7 Jozsef Bozsik (Hungary/Honved) - 3
8 Zoltan Czibor (Hungary/Honved), Jose Santamaria (Uruguay/Nacional) - 2
10 Ladislao Kubala (Spain*/Barcelona) - 1.5
11 Ernst Ocwirk (Austria/Austria Vienna), Helmut Rahn (W.Germany/Rot-Weiss Essen) - 1

1955 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Alfredo Di Stefano (Argentina/Real Madrid) - 124
2 Raymond Kopa (France/Reims) - 74
3 Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay/AC Milan) - 57
4 Ferenc Puskas (Hungary/Honved) - 55.5
5 Sandor Kocsis (Hungary/Honved) - 50
6 Bernard Vukas (Yugoslavia/Hajduk Split) - 20
7 Stanley Matthews (England/Blackpool) - 10
8 Zoltan Czibor (Hungary/Honved) - 9
9 Jozsef Bozsik (Hungary/Honved) - 7
10 Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden/AC Milan) - 4.5
11 Nandor Hidegkuti (Hungary/MTK Budapest), Julinho (Brazil/Palmeiras/Fiorentina) - 2
13 Didi (Brazil/Fluminense), Ladislao Kubala (Spain*/Barcelona), Billy Wright (England/Wolverhampton Wanderers) - 1

1956 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain*/Real Madrid) - 166
2 Raymond Kopa (France/Reims/Real Madrid) - 93
3 Juan Schiaffino (Italy**/AC Milan) - 42
4 Julinho (Brazil/Fiorentina) - 34
5 Stanley Matthews (England/Blackpool) - 21
6 Milos Milutinovic (Yugoslavia/Partizan Belgrade), Ferenc Puskas (Hungary/Honved) - 12
8 Igor Netto (Soviet Union/Spartak Moscow) - 11
9 Lev Yashin (Soviet Union/Dynamo Moscow) - 10
10 Duncan Edwards (England/Manchester United) - 7
11 Omar Sivori (Argentina/River Plate) - 5
12 Billy Wright (England/Wolverhampton Wanderers) - 4
13 Sandor Kocsis (Hungary/Honved) - 3
14 Eduard Streltsov (Soviet Union/Torpedo Moscow) - 2
15 Ernst Ocwirk (Austria/Austria Vienna/Sampdoria) - 1

1957 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain*/Real Madrid) - 168
2 Didi (Brazil/Botafogo) - 81
3 Raymond Kopa (France/Real Madrid) - 41.5
4 Omar Sivori (Argentina/River Plate/Juventus) - 38.5
5 Duncan Edwards (England/Manchester United) - 32
6 Billy Wright (England/Wolverhampton Wanderers) - 16
7 Julinho (Brazil/Fiorentina) - 10
8 John Charles (Wales/Leeds United/Juventus), Pele (Brazil/Santos) - 9
10 Omar Corbatta (Argentina/Racing Club de Avellaneda) - 6
11 Antonio Angelillo (Argentina/Boca Juniors/Inter Milan) - 4
12 Francisco Gento (Spain/Real Madrid), Ladislao Kubala (Spain*/Barcelona),Eduard Streltsov (Soviet Union/Torpedo Moscow) - 3
15 Tom Finney (England/Preston North End), Humberto Maschio (Argentina/Racing Club de Avellaneda/Bologna), Stanley Matthews (England/Blackpool) - 1

1958 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Pele (Brazil/Santos) - 143.5
2 Didi (Brazil/Botafogo) - 117
3 Raymond Kopa (France/Real Madrid) - 108.5
4 Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain*/Real Madrid) - 29.5
5 Just Fontaine (France/Reims) - 25.5
6 Garrincha (Brazil/Botafogo) - 11
7 Nilton Santos (Brazil/Botafogo) - 4
8 John Charles (Wales/Juventus) - 3
9 Helmut Rahn (W.Germany/Rot-Weiss Essen) - 2
10 Kurt Hamrin (Sweden/Padova/Fiorentina) - 1

1959 Ballon d'Or Revisited Big Soccer# panel consensus
1 Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain*/Real Madrid) - 156
2 Pele (Brazil/Santos) - 132
3 Luis Suarez Miramontes (Spain/Barcelona) - 44
4 Didi (Brazil/Botafogo/Real Madrid) - 38
5 Raymond Kopa (France/Real Madrid/Reims) - 36.5
6 Jose Sanfilippo (Argentina/San Lorenzo) - 12.5
7 John Charles (Wales/Juventus) - 9
8 Ferenc Puskas (Hungary/Real Madrid) - 5.5
9 Garrincha (Brazil/Botafogo) - 3
10 Francisco Gento (Spain/Real Madrid) - 1.5
11 Jose Altafini (Brazil/AC Milan), Julinho (Brazil/Palmeiras) - 1


# All years tallies contain one vote from a Reddit voter, in addition to all the Big Soccer voter votes.



No changes to top 5s in the consensus standings IceBlood.