Luca Modric won the Ballon d’Or title in 2018. After a memorable year with Real Madrid and the Croatian national team, Modric finally got the award of the world’s best player 2018, breaking the dominance of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the previous ten years.
So when did the award actually begin?
It was in 1956 when the well-established French magazine “France Football” launched the idea of giving an award for the best players in Europe every year, with a polling mechanism gained from top journalists throughout Europe.
Because it was done in Europe and determined by journalists in Europe, Ballon d’Or was also often referred to as “Best European Player of the Year.” From 1956 to 1994, all players who received awards were required to come from Europe and play in leagues in Europe. This was what caused the great world legend Pele and Maradona never got this award.
The British legend as well as the Blackpool’s star of the 1950s, Stanley Matthews, was the first person to win the first edition of the Ballon d’Or in 1956. In the following three years, Real Madrid’s superstars, Alfredo di Stefano, and Raymond Kopa took turns winning it.
In its journey, a series of stars have ruled this award. There were famous names like Eusebio, George Best, Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, or Roberto Baggio.
In 1995, major changes occurred. France Football allowed players from outside Europe to compete, as long as they play in European clubs. In the same year, George Weah won the Ballon d’Or after playing very well at AC Milan. He became the first and only African to ever win this award.
Another history was created in 2010. France Football approved FIFA’s request to combine Ballon D’Or owned by France Football with the Player of the Year’s award (which is owned by FIFA). So, since that year, the award changed its name to FIFA Ballon d’Or.
The agreement with FIFA only lasted five years. In 2016, France Football again had the exclusive right to hold Ballon d’Or, while FIFA also re-branded the Player of the Year Award to be the Best FIFA Football Awards.
So far, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the two people who have won the award most often (whatever they are called), which is five times each. The combination of the ten awards they won was carried out in the period 2008 to 2017 or ten consecutive years. The last person who won it before they were both in power was Ricardo Kaka, the AC Milan star who had been recruited expensively by Real Madrid. There was also Luca Modric who was the first person to win it after the era of Ronaldo-Messi.
Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff, and Marco van Basten became the next player who accomplished them by collecting three trophies.
This year was the first time the best European award for the female player, titled Ballon d’Or Feminine, was given. This year, the winner was Ada Hegerberg, the Norwegian striker who won the Women’s 2018 Champions League with Lyon.
Furthermore, this year’s event also introduced the Kopa Trophy, the world’s best player award for the category of players under the age of 21 years. Kylian Mbappe, who won the 2018 World Cup with the French national team, won the award, beating Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund) and Justin Kluivert (Ajax / Roma)
So, Footchampion would like to ask you.
Do you know what was the name of the award which Modric won on December 4?
