Fabio Cannavaro was the last Italian player to win the Ballon d’Or in 2006, but can you name all the Italian and Serie A players to be crowned best player of the year?
The first one was Juventus legend Omar Sivori in 1961 in the sixth edition of the award. He was followed by Milan‘s Gianni Rivera in 1969 and the late Paolo Rossi in 1982. The former Juventus striker had led Italy to their third World Cup victory only a few months earlier.
Roberto Baggio was the fourth Italian to win the Ballon d’Or in 1994 while under contract with Juventus, while the last one was Cannavaro in 2006. The former Azzurri captain had also lifted the World Cup a few months earlier before joining Real Madrid from Juventus.
There are more former Serie A stars who won the Ballon d’Or over the years. Another Juventus legend, Michel Platini won the award in three consecutive years, from 1983 until 1985.
Then, the era of the ‘Great Milan’ began and saw Ruud Gullit win the award in 1987, followed by his teammate Marco van Basten in 1988, 1989 and 1992.
Inter star Lothar Matthäus won it in 1990 after leading Germany to win Italia 90 in a Final against Diego Armando Maradona’s Argentina at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
After the already mentioned Baggio in 1993, Milan’s George Weah won the Ballon d’Or in 1995, then it was Ronaldo‘s turn (Inter) in 1997 and Zizou Zidane‘s (Juventus) in 1998.
Serie A players dominated the first decade of the 2000s.
Juventus’ Pavel Nedved won it in 2003, Milan’s Andiy Shevchenko in 2004, Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 and Kaka in 2007. The ex-Milan star finished above Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in that edition, but their era of domination would commence the following year.
Such a shame legends like Baresi, Maldini or Del Piero never won Ballon d’Or 🥺
Ronaldo Messi deserved a few but what they have been given was a gift and scam at the same time. So many better players that won more at the same time. The award has become worthless.