How 27 Ballon d’Or Winners Voted, Including Messi & Ronaldo

Perhaps unfortunate not to get his hands on the Ballon d’Or, Barcelona and Spain headline-grabber Lamine Yamal had to settle for the Kopa Trophy at this year’s ceremony – the 69th of its kind – at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. It’s an award that often gets overshadowed, but fans are wary not to downplay its importance.

It’s often a glimpse as to who may pick up football’s biggest individual prize in years to come – and the award, which highlights the best under-21 footballer from all corners of Europe, is voted for by a panel of former Ballon d’Or winners. That includes, but is not exclusive to, the likes of Marco van Basten, Zinedine Zidane and Kaka.

Vicky Lopez shoveled up the women’s edition of the award and, now, the voting results of all 27 former Ballon d’Or winners have now been revealed. Which former winner snubbed Yamal entirely? And, more importantly, which players are getting their flowers and rubbing shoulders with the triumphant Spanish sensation?

Yamal Involved In All But One Top Three

Of course, Yamal put together a compelling case to become the latest winner of the Ballon d’Or, though he was just pipped to the post – in fact, by 321 votes – by Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele. You could bet your bottom dollar, however, that he’d be in the driving seat if Barcelona had won the Champions League rather than Luis Enrique’s side. For now, however, he has to settle for the 2025 Kopa Trophy.

Goal contributions aside, Yamal’s trickery with the ball at his feet was second to none throughout the 2025/26 campaign, and he helped Hansi Flick’s Barcelona achieve a domestic treble… all at a relative canter it must be added. It’s therefore not much of a surprise to see the trophy winner was favoured by the majority of those who have won the Ballon d’Or in the past.

Only a triumvirate of the distinguished voting panel, Pavel Nedved, Roberto Baggio and Ruud Gullit – with the Dutchman snubbing the teenage phenom entirely – did not put Yamal at the top of their respective lists. The 18-year-old record-breaker is (rightfully!) regarded as one of the best players in world football and that comes after a season which saw him plunder 43 contributions in the final third (18 goals and 25 assists).

PSG Duo Doue and Neves Shown Plenty of Love

It was pretty obvious that Yamal, who has left plenty of records in ruins at his feet since graduating from La Masia academy, would pick up a large chunk of the votes – but it would be difficult to ingore how much love Paris Saint-Germain duo Desire Doue and Joao Neves received by some of football’s biggest names of all time. As an example, Fabio Cannavaro and Michael Owen voted for both.

As did the likes of Matthias Sammer, George Weah and Marco van Basten, who is one of the few multiple Ballon d’Or winners. In fact, as highlighted in the table below, the most common voting pattern was Yamal-Doue-Neves. The latter, who often goes under the radar given PSG’s star-studded nature, is undoubtedly one of the best at keeping it simple in the middle of the park.

How easily he covers every blade of grass, too, means that his importance is being noticed by plenty of Ballon d’Or winners. That includes fellow midfielder Luka Modric, who placed him second in his rankings; as did Igor Belanov.

Born and raised in Angers before joining the Stade Rennais academy ranks in the infancy of his career, Doue – whose name means ‘Desired Gifted’ once translated into English – has become a key part of Enrique’s serial-winning dynasty in the French capital. The Frenchman proved how integral he is by notching two goals and an assist in his side’s 5-1 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League final.

Estevao, Huijsen and Cubarsi Named by a Few

Yamal, Doue and Neves were all perennially named by the former Ballon d’Or winners, but there were also a handful of other players – including Juventus hotshot Kenan Yildiz and Estevao, now of Chelsea – that received votes from a few. The latter, who moved to west London in the summer of 2025, received five votes, though three of those were courtesy of Brazilian legends Ronaldo Nazario, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho.

Belanov and Lothar Matthaus also noted their excitement over the Chelsea wide man. Another promising talent is the aforementioned Yildiz, who has become the face of one of Italy’s most successful clubs in Juventus. The young Turk, 20, was voted second by Hristo Stoichkov; he also earned votes from Gianna Riveri, Matthaus and Nedved.

Rodrigo Mora may have only received one vote overall – but that’s not to say it wasn’t deserved. Still just 18 years of age, the attacking midfielder has set the world alight for Porto in his homeland. Last term, he scored 12 goals and notched four assists.

Dean Huijsen, formerly of Bournemouth but now indispensable for Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid, was voted for on three occasions: Gullit, who won the Ballon d’Or in 1987, placed him second. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Kaka both had the Amsterdam-born defender, who snubbed better deals in England to join Los Blancos, in third place. Another Spanish defender who earned his plaudits was that of Barcelona’s Pau Cubarsi.