Ballon d'Or Confirms Players Can Win Without Team Trophies

The Ballon d'Or organising committee has clarified that winning a club or national team trophy is not a mandatory condition for the award. The decision stresses that an individual’s performance over the season carries greater weight than the number of titles collected.

Only six players in the award’s history have won the Ballon d'Or without lifting a major trophy in the same season: Stanley Matthews (1956), Denis Law (1964), Gerd Müller (1970), Kevin Keegan (1978), Luis Figo (2000) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2013). The statement notes that current leading candidates Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland are also in contention despite not having won a team trophy this season, with other prominent names such as Lionel Messi, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane mentioned among the race.