Manchester United may be some distance off posting a genuine Ballon d’Or contender these days, but the Red Devils remain the only English side to have boasted multiple winners of the award.
Their dominance in English football over multiple periods and their position as one of the world’s most successful sides has naturally been forged by some incredibly gifted footballers.
While much of Man Utd’s success in the Ballon d’Or came during its first two decades, they have been represented by one of football’s modern greats and most decorated individuals since the turn of the century.
Here is every player who has won the Ballon d’Or while representing Man Utd.
It didn’t take long for a Manchester United player to claim the Ballon d’Or, with Scotland international Denis Law triumphing just eight years after the inaugural award was dished out to Blackpool’s Stanley Matthews. He beat Spanish duo Luis Suarez and Amancio to the prize.
While Man Utd failed to secure any silverware during the 1963/64 season, Law scored a remarkable 46 goals in 42 matches as the Red Devils finished runners-up to Liverpool in the league.
Within the next four years, Man Utd had themselves two more Ballon d’Or champions. Bobby Charlton was the next Red Devil to claim the accolade but it was more for his international achievements than his club form – which was still pretty impressive, of course. Charlton scored three times for England at the 1966 World Cup as the Three Lions claimed their first and only world championship.
Charlton may have been an English superstar but Man Utd’s next winner, George Best in 1968, was a global phenomenon. The Northern Irishman scored 32 goals in 53 matches during the 1967/68 campaign as the Red Devils became the first English side to win the European Cup with a 4-1 win over Benfica.
Best scored himself in the final and Charlton grabbed a brace, with the latter finishing second in the Ballon d’Or vote in 1967 and 1968 after his initial triumph.
After some early dominance in the Ballon d’Or rankings, it took another 40 years for Man Utd to have their next winner. After another European triumph in 2008, this time under legendary coach Alex Ferguson, Cristiano Ronaldo – who scored in the final itself – won the first of his five Ballon d’Or titles.
2007/08 was certainly Ronaldo’s best season in a Man Utd jersey before his move to Real Madrid, where he won his other four golden balls. He…
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