Lionel Messi to Cristiano Ronaldo: Football superstars with most Ballon d'Or awards

Argentine legend Lionel Messi holds the record for winning the most Ballon d'Or trophies in the history of men's football. Regarded as one of the greatest of all time, Messi won his maiden Ballon D's Or in 2010 after scoring 47 goals across competitions for Barcelona. 

He went on to win six more Ballon d'Ors for the Spanish club before leaving Barcelona last year. Messi was not nominated for the award this year.

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has been a serial winner throughout his football career and has five Ballon d'Ors to his name. He is only behind Messi in the list of most Ballon d'Ors won by a male player and is widely considered an all time great. 

Ronaldo won his first Ballon d'Or in 2008 after a stunning campaign for his current club Manchester United. He became the first United player since the legendary George Best to win the prestigious trophy. Ronaldo went on to win four Ballon d'Ors during his glorious stint with Real Madrid with his last triumph coming in 2017.
 

French great Michel Platini was the first player in history to win three Ballon d'Or titles in a row. Platini played for clubs like Nancy, Juventus and Saint-Etienne during his career. He scored 41 times in 72 appereances for France and won three Ballon d'Ors in 1983, 1984 and 1985.
 

One of the best players to have played the game, Barcelona and Dutch legend Johan Cruyff also won the prestigious Ballon d'Or thrice in his decorated career. Cruyff won the Ballon d'Or in for the first time in 1971 before clinching the trophy for successive seasons in 1973 and 1974. 
 

Despite being forced to retire at 28 due to an injury, Marco van Basten achieved enough in his shot career to be regarded as one of the legends of the game. The former Dutch striker, who playe for the likes of Ajax and AC Milan scored 300 goals in his career and won the Ballon d'Or thrice in 1988, 1989 and 1992. He played his final match in 1993 before quitting the game.