10 Soccer Players With The Most Individual Awards In History

The debate over who stands as the greatest footballer of all time will rage on forever, but individual awards offer something close to a concrete measure of brilliance. These awards represent moments when a player rose above everyone else, when their talent could not be denied by voters, journalists, and fellow professionals alike.

From golden boots to player of the year honours, these prizes mark the peaks of sporting excellence.

While team trophies require collective effort and sometimes a bit of luck, individual awards shine a light on singular genius. They capture seasons of extraordinary goalscoring, tournaments where one player lifted an entire nation, or years when someone played football at a level that left everyone else in their wake.

The criteria here focus on the big honours.

Ballon d’Or wins, naturally, carry enormous weight. So do top scorer awards from major leagues and continental competitions. International tournament awards matter too, whether for goals scored or overall performance. Player of the year prizes at domestic, continental, and international levels all count. The Super Ballon d’Or, handed out just once in history, also makes the cut.

What emerges from tallying these awards across generations is a fascinating picture of football royalty. Some names feel inevitable. Others might surprise you with just how dominant they were in their era. Together, they represent the absolute height of what can be achieved with a ball at your feet.

10. Johan Cruyff

Total Awards: 10

Cruyff remains one of the most elegant players to have ever graced the pitch. His skilful dribbling and unmatched mind for the game were a joy to behold for those fortunate enough to be watching at the time.

His legacy is often tied to the total football philosophy; his individual brilliance was undeniable. He beat his fellow Netherlands international to the Dutch Footballer of the Year in 1984, marking a third triumph for the Ajax legend.

Three Ballon d’Or awards in the space of four years in the early 1970s prove he was one of the top players in the world, despite his low tally on this list in comparison to those ahead of him.

Cruyff’s legacy will forever live on as he became adored at both Ajax and Barcelona for his contributions to two of the biggest clubs in Europe as a player and a manager.

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9. Alfredo Di Stefano

Total Awards: 12

Having won two of the first Ballon d’Or trophies handed out in the late 1950s, Real Madrid’s top goalscorer at the time would go on to make history by becoming the first recipient of the Super Ballon d’Or in 1989.

The award was handed out to the man who was deemed the best player of the previous 30 years, and he remains the only player to ever receive the honour. Beating Platini to the award, the ex-Madridista did incredibly well to scoop the prize.

Di Stefano switched international allegiances, swapping Argentina for Spain, and went on to become one of the best, if not the best, players in Spanish history. Lifting the Spanish Player of the Year award four times, he cemented himself as an iconic figure in his adopted homeland.

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8. Michel Platini

Total Awards: 12

He is only the second midfielder to make the list after his compatriot, Zidane. Platini was a unique figure in that his goalscoring exploits could be placed on a par with some of the best forward players we have seen.

The year 1984 belonged to the Juventus star as he dominated the European Championships, being named the top scorer of the tournament as he led his nation to glory.

This was amid the best spell of Platini’s playing career, and the Frenchman lifted three successive Ballons d’Or in 1983, 1984, and 1985.

Being able to command the engine room as well as getting forward to have a positive impact on the game is a dream for any football manager, and Platini was a master in both fields.

7. Zinedine Zidane

Total Awards: 13

Zinedine Zidane led France to World Cup success in 1998 as the host nation defeated Ronaldo’s Brazil in the tournament’s final. The gifted midfielder’s performances in that tournament and at club level were rewarded with a Ballon d’Or and a FIFA World Player of the Year award in the same year.

He was also judged to be the best French player of the year, despite stiff competition from Thierry Henry, among others.

This wasn’t his only impressive showing at an international tournament either, as Zidane likely would have been rewarded for his efforts in the 2006 World Cup had he not controversially headbutted Marco Materazzi in the final and cost his side the victory.

He was the Player of the Tournament at the Euros in 2000 and added a collection of accolades at club level to his haul.

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6. Eusebio

Total Awards: 17

Ronaldo may steal all the headlines in the modern game when it comes to the best players to come from Portugal, but Eusebio’s legacy cannot be ignored.

The Benfica icon was known to be one of the best finishers of all time as he thundered in goals for fun during his time in his homeland. This is displayed by his seven awards for being the top scorer in the Portuguese top flight, with five coming in successive years from 1964 to 1968.

His uncanny ability to find the back of the net has helped the late hero’s name within the game continue to be held in high regard.

Eusebio passed away in 2014, but the former striker remains a firm fixture in lists such as this one. It goes to show the impact he had during his era.

5. Gerd Müller

Total Awards: 18

Robert Lewandowski is known as the most clinical goalscorer in Bundesliga history in the modern-day era, but many decades before the Polish striker was smashing in goals for Bayern Munich, Müller was leading the line for the club and scoring at an even more prolific rate.

He is the top goalscorer in the competition’s history with well over 300 goals to his name. He netted the most goals in seven separate campaigns for the German giants, proving his prowess in front of goal.

It wasn’t just in domestic football that the Germany international showed his clinical edge, with Muller being handed the European Cup top scorer on four occasions.

The striker is undoubtedly one of the greatest ever German players, right at the top of the list with the possible exception of the late Franz Beckenbauer.

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4. Ronaldo Nazario

Total Awards: 18

Ronaldo Nazario represented some of the biggest clubs in world football, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, meaning it comes as little surprise that the striker picked up plenty of individual honours along the way as the main man.

The Brazilian was an elite marksman with sensational technique for a man of his stature. A perfect blend of pace, power and skill, he was a handful for any defender he faced.

It wasn’t only at club level that he thrived either, as the man affectionately known as ‘R9’ had the hopes of his entire nation upon his shoulders for the majority of his career.

He won two Ballons d’Or, with the second coming in 2002 after his masterclass in one of the greatest World Cup finals of all time, in which Brazil defeated Germany 2-0. Ronaldo picked up a strong mix of both international and club awards.

3. Marco van Basten

Total Awards: 20

Marco van Basten was unfortunately forced to retire early due to injury. Despite hanging up his boots at the age of 31, the Netherlands sensation’s individual trophy cabinet is only bettered by Messi and Ronaldo, as he has racked up 20 awards.

The majority of which are for finishing league seasons and international campaigns as the top goalscorer for Ajax, AC Milan and the Dutch national team.

One of the greatest strikers of a ball in any generation, not only Van Basten garnered a reputation for being one of the best players in the world at his best.

This is shown by his three Ballon d’Or awards, which came in the space of just five years.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo

Total Awards: 33

Where Messi appears on a list, it can almost be guaranteed that Cristiano Ronaldo will be in close vicinity to his long-term rival. The former Real Madrid and Manchester United superstar has broken almost all goalscoring records possible as he has become the most clinical player that sport has seen.

CR7 is the top scorer in the history of football, ahead of the likes of Pele and Messi.

The Portuguese forward will be gutted to have played in the same era as Messi, as his incredible haul of five Ballon d’Or awards has been overshadowed by the Argentine.

He is only one of two players in the history of the game to have lifted the prestigious award on more than three occasions. He has been crowned as the best player in the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A across his career, proving the success he has achieved everywhere he has gone.

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1. Lionel Messi

Total Awards: 53

Messi added an eighth Ballon d’Or to his personal trophy collection in late 2023 after helping his country secure a World Cup 12 months prior. It is hard to argue that the Argentine is the greatest football player of all time.

A long and rich career has seen Messi amass an unbelievable haul of both individual and collective honours. It has been a joy for fans to witness the little magician take the football world by storm for the past two decades.

Not only has the Barcelona legend won more individual awards than his peers, Messi is also the most decorated football player in the world in terms of team success.

The 36-year-old’s collection of prizes includes many top scorer awards in various competitions as well as being named Argentina Player of the Year a staggering 14 times.