Lamine Yamal next? The 5 youngest ever Ballon d’Or winners ft Lionel Messi
Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal is being heavily tipped as one of the Ballon d’Or favourites in 2025, but where would he rank among the youngest players to ever win the award?
Players like Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Eusebio and Cristiano Ronaldo all won the award before turning 25, but even they don’t rank among the youngest players to have ever won it.
Since the Ballon d’Or was first introduced back in 1956, here are the five youngest players to have ever won it and how old they were at the time.
5. Oleg Blokhin – 23 years, 1 month and 25 days
Blokhin won the award in 1975, beating the likes of Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff who finished second and third, respectively.
The forward played for Dynamo Kyiv at the time and won the Soviet Top League, UEFA Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Super Cup all within the same year.
Upon winning the award, he was 23 years, 1 month and 25 days old – just a few months younger than CR7 when he won his first Ballon d’Or.
4. George Best – 22 years, 7 months and 2 days
Upon winning the Ballon d’Or in 1968, Best became the youngest player to ever win the award – a record which stood for almost 30 years.
The Manchester United winger was unplayable during his peak and those who were fortunate enough to see him play live still rave about him to this day.
“At the time when he first got in the team, no one had seen his like before: someone who was so small and tough, who would go into tackles, but also had the ability to turn people inside out and beat anyone he liked,” is how Sir Bobby Charlton described him.
“George was as good as anyone you will see; he used to embarrass players time and time again. It was paradise watching George play football.”
3. Lionel Messi – 22 years, 5 months and 7 days
Messi won his first Ballon d’Or in 2009 after guiding Barcelona to their first-ever treble.
“I knew that I was among the favourites because Barcelona had a fruitful year in 2009. But I didn’t expect to win with such a margin,” Messi said after claiming the prize.
Along with being the third youngest player to ever win the Ballon d’Or, Messi is also the second oldest player to ever win the award. Talk about longevity.
The Argentine genius won his eighth Ballon d’Or at the ripe old age of 36. Only Stanley Matthews, aged 41, has won the award at an older age than Messi.
2. Michael Owen – 22 years, 4 days
Upon winning the Ballon d’Or in 2001, Owen became the second youngest player ever to have won it.
Under Gerard Houiller, the striker enjoyed a prolific campaign in 2000-01, scoring 24 goals and winning the FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield, Super Cup and UEFA Cup.
“I couldn’t believe it when I first heard the news,” Owen said after winning the award.
“I knew that I was one of the five players in question, but it still seemed unbelievable to me.”
1. Ronaldo Nazario – 21 years, 3 months and 5 days
George Best held the record as the youngest Ballon d’Or winner for 29 years, that was until Ronaldo came around in 1997.
After finishing second to Matthias Sammer in 1996, the Brazilian won the 1997 Ballon d’Or at a canter, finishing a whopping 154 points ahead of Predrag Mijatovic, who came second.
Across all competitions in 1996-97, the Brazilian scored 47 goals in 49 appearances for Barcelona before then making the switch to Inter Milan.
Since 1997, he’s held the record as the youngest ever Ballon d’Or winner, although that accolade could be in jeopardy with Yamal currently ripping things up.
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