England may be the birthplace of soccer as we know it but that is no guarantee of success when it comes to the game's most prestigious individual prize.
The Ballon d'Or was conjured up in 1956 and has been won by a host of different superstars throughout the years. From Liberia to Bulgaria to Northern Ireland, the fabled golden ball has traversed the globe.
While England are far from the most decorated nation in Ballon d'Or history, there have been several past victors from old blighty—even if it has been quite some time since an Englishman has got his hands on the title.
Every England Player to Have Won the Ballon d'Or
You can count on one hand the amount of different Ballon d'Or victors who hail from England, but the Three Lions do lay claim to the first ever winner. That was Blackpool's (yes, Blackpool’s) Stanley Matthews, who won the award in its inaugural year in 1956 after edging out Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stéfano.
It took exactly a decade before English hands would grace the award again but it was the most patriotic of victories. Manchester United hero Bobby Charlton pipped Eusébio to the post after helping England win their first and only World Cup trophy.
The late 1970s saw Kevin Keegan become the first Englishman to win the award multiple times with back-to-back triumphs. However, it was in Germany where the former Liverpool player thrived after some stellar performances in the Bundesliga and European Cup with Hamburg. After squeezing past Hans Krankl in 1978, Keegan won at a canter the following year.
It then took over 20 years for England to claim their fifth and most recent Ballon d'Or title, with up-and-coming wonderkid Michael Owen dazzling in victory in 2001.
Having emerged as a formidable force for Liverpool en route to a treble at the turn of the century, it was Owen's late and decisive brace in the FA Cup final against Arsenal that was his standout achievement that year.
English Winners of the Ballon d'Or
England Players Who Almost Won the Ballon d'Or
There have been some almighty close calls in past Ballon d'Or votes, with English players finishing on the podium semi-regularly. Even past winners Charlton and Keegan both had to settle for second place, the former doing so twice in 1967 and 1968.
England's 1966 World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore was also a runner-up four years after lifting football's most coveted prize with the Three Lions. He finished behind sharpshooting German forward Gerd Múller, who himself came second two years later.
The year after the first ever Ballon d'Or, England actually had two players grace the top three. They were Wolverhampton Wanderers' Billy Wright and Manchester United's Duncan Edwards, with neither able to usurp Di Stéfano. Edwards tied with France legend Raymond Kopa in third.
2005 is the only other year that has seen two Englishman in the top three, with international teammates and elite box-to-box midfielders Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard losing out to the South American flair of Ronaldinho. Neither came close to toppling the Barcelona man but Lampard pipped Gerrard to second by just six points.
One of England's first superstar footballers, David Beckham, will have been cursing his luck in 1999. The right-sided midfielder helped Manchester United to the treble, including a monumental Champions League final comeback, but still couldn't best Barcelona's Rivaldo in top spot.
Most recently, Jude Bellingham finished third in the 2024 Ballon d'Or rankings behind Manchester City star Rodri and his Real Madrid teammate Vinicius Jr.
English Players in the Top Three of the Ballon d'Or Vote
READ MORE ON THE RECENT HISTORY OF THE BALLON D’OR
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Every Ballon d'Or Winner from England.