Ballon D Or

Because the Fifa Ballon d'Or is something of a paradox, don't you think? An individual award in a team sport; a highlight of the footballing calendar that contains no actual football; an event watched in 190 countries and debated ad nauseam which is  Because the Fifa Ballon d'Or is something of a paradox, don't you … Read more

Lionel Messi has reclaimed the FIFA Ballon d'Or award for the world football player of the year, after watching his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo walk off with the prize for the previous two years. The Barcelona and Argentina forward finished ahead of SOCCEROOS captain Mile Jedinak stayed away from fashion and didn't even pick Lionel … Read more

Ahead of the announcement of the winner of the 2016 Fifa Ballon d'Or, we take a look at some of the winners of its previous incarnation, when it was just the plain old Ballon d'Or aka the European Footballer of the Year. The annual award was presented SOCCEROOS captain Mile Jedinak stayed away from fashion … Read more

SOCCEROOS captain Mile Jedinak stayed away from fashion and didn't even pick Lionel Messi at all in his votes for the Ballon d'Or, while Ange Postecoglou took the traditional path and nailed the final order. The full list of votes for the prestigious This is how democracy works. You give the right to vote to … Read more

Ahead of the announcement of the winner of the 2016 Fifa Ballon d'Or, we take a look at some of the winners of its previous incarnation, when it was just the plain old Ballon d'Or aka the European Footballer of the Year. The annual award was presented Ahead of the announcement of the winner of … Read more

Carli Lloyd has won the FIFA women's Ballon d'Or award as the best player in 2015, beating out Celia Sasic and Aya Miyama. Lloyd scored in each of the United States' final three World Cup games, including a hat trick in the World Cup final. Voting on Hence we were gutted – nay, distraught – … Read more

CRISTIANO RONALDO secured a hat-trick of Ballon d'Or awards last night – but was quickly upstaged by rival Lionel Messi. The Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is undoubtedly the best in his position but that is probably not enough to wrestle the Ballon d'Or away from Messi and Ronaldo. By the time the Zurich Kongresshaus … Read more

ROY HODGSON sprung a surprise with his Ballon d'Or nominations after failing to include winner Cristiano Ronaldo and instead opting for former Liverpool man Javier Mascherano as his first choice. Nike has created their first ever micro-diamond encrusted football boots to mark Cristiano Ronaldo's Ballon d'Or hat trick. And, like Cristiano himself, they're not just … Read more

In its annual dalliance with transparency, Fifa released the full breakdown of Ballon d'Or votes on Monday, shortly after Cristiano Ronaldo won the award for a third time. As ever, the list of votes reveals some interesting patterns and questionable Northern Ireland's captain and coach did not get a vote in the Ballon d'Or poll, … Read more