EVERY ENGLISH PLAYER TO MAKE THE TOP THREE OF THE BALLON D'OR [RANKED]

The Ballon d'Or is one of the most illustrious prizes in football, won by only the greatest of players who are able to perform at the highest level for a full season and ultimately be deemed the best player in the world. To win the award, you must be elected as the best individual footballer on the planet, based on a points system; this is decided upon by journalists who each choose their top five picks in order; each position will dictate the value of points that the player receives.

Six points are granted to the player that is selected first, four points are allocated to second, then 3 points to third, two points to fourth, and one point to the fifth-ranked player. At the end of this process, the points are all tallied up, and the Ballon d'Or ranking list is formed. Only four times has an English player ever been crowned with this honour. With that in mind, here's a list of every English footballer to be ranked in the top three of the Ballon d'Or.

Stanley Matthews

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Winner (1956)

Beginning on a historical footnote, Stanley Matthews was not only the first Englishman to win the Golden Ball but also the first player ever in history to do so too. Crowned as the winner on 47 points, Matthews narrowly edged the great Spanish forward Alfredo Di Stefano to the award after an unbelievable display for Blackpool that season. The forward was famously known for his dazzling footwork and dribbling abilities, able to draw additional crowds of thousands just to see him in action.

Billy Wright

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Second (1957)

In the following year of the competition, another Englishman, Billy Wright, was close to making it two from two; however, this time, Di Stefano was successful in his endeavours to be crowned the best player in the world, winning outright with 72 votes in comparison to Wright's 19. For Wolverhampton Wanderers, Wright impressively competed for the Ballon d'Or despite being a centreback, which in today's game is a total rarity. He would lead his club on to three First Division titles and an FA Cup during his time at Wolves, earning himself a statue outside the Molineux stadium.

Duncan Edwards

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Third (1957)

In the same year as Wright's second-place finish, came the joint-third-ranking Duncan Edwards, who finished with equal votes (16) to Real Madrid's Raymond Kopa. Playing for Manchester United at the time, Edwards would impress by operating almost anywhere on the pitch, playing in holding midfield, left midfield, and even in one case as an emergency striker, his versatility was a huge asset. Tragically, at only the age of 21, Edwards was a passenger in the infamous Munich air disaster, and after surviving the initial crash, passed away on February 21st, 1958.

Johnny Haynes

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Third (1961)

After three years of absence from the podium spots, in 1961 Johnny Haynes would once again break into the top three voted players in Europe, scoring 22 points and finishing third. Omar Sivori and Luis Suarez would both comfortably place above the Englishman, both clearing the 40-point mark. Haynes notched nine goals and three assists for Fulham in that season, playing as a second striker.

Jimmy Greaves

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Third (1963)

In the historic year, where the first and only goalkeeper to ever win the Ballon d'Or, Lev Yashin, was crowned as the champion on 73 points, not far behind him in third place was Jimmy Greaves, who was allocated 50 points, only five behind second-placed, Gianna Rivera. Scoring 45 goals in 48 games across that season, Greaves was in unbelievable scoring form for Tottenham Hotspur and can consider himself extremely unfortunate to not pick up the award due to the sheer excellence of Yashin.

Bobby Charlton

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Winner (1966), Second (1967), Second (1968)

One of the finest footballers in the history of the nation, Bobby Charlton is the first English player to have been listed in the Ballon d'Or rankings on three occasions and managed to do so three times in a row. The first would result in his only awarding of the Golden Ball in 1966, where he squeezed a one-point victory over Eusebio to be crowned victorious. However, in the following two seasons, Charlton would finish as second-best, losing by 28 points to Florian Albert in 1967 and by eight points to his fellow teammate George Best in 1968. These placings display the consistency of his brilliance over that three-year period, and he is easily one of the greatest Englishmen to have ever graced the game.

Bobby Moore

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Second (1970)

An icon of English football due to being the captain of the nation's famous one and only victory of the World Cup in 1966, four years later Bobby Moore would find himself placed second on the Ballon d'Or podium, trailing the great Gerd Muller by only seven points, attaining 70 of his own. Playing for West Ham United at the time, Moore is known as the club's greatest-ever player, captaining the side for 10 years and reading the game superbly from the back, making incredible judgement of his tackles.

Kevin Keegan

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Second (1977), Winner (1978), Winner (1979)

Similar to the great Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan was able to replicate the Manchester United legend's achievement of three placements in the Golden Ball back-to-back-to-back. However, Keegan was able to do one better than his predecessor, finishing second place in 1977 to Allan Simonsen before winning two Ballon d'Or's in a row in the following years and is still the only English player ever to win the award twice. For his first, he scored 87 points ahead of Hans Krankl and Rob Rosenbrink, before winning a whopping 118 votes for his second, ahead of Kral-Heinz Rummenigge and Ruud Krol.

Gary Lineker

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Second (1986)

Now known for his role on Match of the Day and as a broadcaster, many often forget that Gary Lineker was an incredible footballer who managed to finish second in the Ballon d'Or rankings to Igor Belanov in 1986, ahead of the great Emilio Butragueno. That season, Lineker would achieve 36 goal contributions in 41 games in the First Division for Everton before eventually being announced the runner-up after joining Barcelona that summer. One of the most predatory strikers that England has ever possessed, Lineker was the definition of a poacher and was elite at it too.

Alan Shearer

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Third (1996)

Another lethal striker in his own right, Alan Shearer holds the Premier League's record as the highest goalscorer of all time and, in 1996, won 107 votes in the Ballon d'Or race behind Matthias Sammer and Ronaldo Nazario. During that season, the Blackburn Rovers forward would score a tremendous 31 goals in 37 matches, while assisting seven times in the process. A true icon of English football and one of the greatest finishers of all time, not many in history attain his clinical ability in front of goal, scoring so many times that he could barely be bothered to celebrate.

David Beckham

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Second (1999)

Often forgotten for just how good of a footballer he was due to his branding and marketability, David Beckham was one of the most gifted footballers that England has ever produced, whipping crosses in with quality that was undefendable for opposition players to deal with. In 1999, Beckham would finish behind Rivaldo in the Golden Ball race, earning 154 votes for his incredible season with Manchester United, winning the Premier League and the Champions League.

Michael Owen

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Winner (2001)

Bursting onto the scene at a young age, Michael Owen won the Ballon d'Or at the ripe age of 22 years old in a season that saw him lift the FA Cup, UEFA Cup, and League Cup while contributing to 31 goals in 46 matches. Owen also had a major impact on the FA Cup final against Arsenal that year, where Liverpool were 1-0 down with 10 minutes remaining, until the youngster would pop up with two quickfire goals to steal the trophy away from 'the Gunners' and into the hands of 'the Reds.'

Frank Lampard

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Second (2005)

Perhaps the greatest goalscoring midfielder not only in the history of English football but in the game itself, Frank Lampard was the master of arriving late into the opponents' box and finding the finishing touch. In 2005, he would finish above his midfield compatriot that he was so often compared against during his career, Steven Gerrard, who would ultimately finish six points behind the Chelsea man. However, both men would fall behind Ronaldinho in their pursuit of glory, as the Brazilian magician was unbelievable for Barcelona that campaign, finishing with the overwhelming majority of 225 votes.

Steven Gerrard

Ballon d'Or Ranking: Third (2005)

Finishing behind Lampard in third place on 142 votes, Steven Gerrard, captaining Liverpool in their most famous night in its history, historically defying the odds after being 3-0 down to one of the great AC Milan sides in history, somehow managing to overcome the odds and defeat the Italian giants on penalties after drawing the match 3-3 at full-time. Gerrard was the catalyst for this, as he scored in the 54th minute to open his side's account on the evening and was awarded the man of the match in the final for his heroics.

Statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt.

2024-09-08T07:30:11Z dg43tfdfdgfd