MENU

Pele actually has same number of

Ballon d'Ors as Lionel Messi
according to France Football
Josh Lawless

Published 14:44, 22 December 2022 GMT

| Last updated 15:05, 22 December 2022 GMT

Lionel Messi leads the way in football with

seven-time Ballon d'Or wins but according
to France Football, the award organisers,
Pele is level with the Argentine legend.

When Pele was playing, he was never eligible

for the coveted prize at any point in his
glittering career.

The award was set up by journalists Gabriel

Hanot and Jacques Ferran and saw England's
Stanley Matthews become the inaugural winner
in 1956.

However, up until 1995, only footballers from

Europe were in contention to win the Ballon
d'Or. The rule changed to allow players from
any country who were playing for a European
club, allowing George Weah of AC Milan and
Liberia to claim the award.

Freddy Adu opens up on meeti…

Pele won three World Cups with Brazil but

never played in Europe, spending the majority
of his career scoring goals aplenty for Santos,
before joining New York Cosmos in the United
States.

However, in 2016, France Football went back

and did an "international re-evaluation" to
calculate who should have won the Ballon d'Or
had it always been a global award to honour
the world's best.

Image: Alamy

As a result, they retrospectively gave Pele the

prize in seven out of 12 years: 1958, 1959,
1960, 1961, 1963, 1964 and 1970.

They did it for instances when a Non-European

player was the deserving winner and so the
likes of Garrincha, Mario Kempes, Diego
Maradona (twice) and Romario also got some
vital recognition.

Image: France Football

France Football also produced a special

magazine cover featuring Pele with seven
Ballon d'Or trophies - the same incredible
amount that Messi has managed.

Pele was also handed a honorary Ballon d'Or at

the 2014 Ballon d'Or ceremony for his
incredible achievements.

Image: Wikipedia

Maradona, meanwhile, received a 'Golden

Ballon d'Or' back in 1995 for what he was able
to accomplish in the game.

Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano won

two Ballon d'Ors in his career but he is also
the only recipient of the 'Super Ballon d'Or'
award, given out in 1989.

Di Stefano beat Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini

to the special gong, which sold for £187,500 in
an auction.

Featured Image Credit: France Football & Alamy

Topics: Pele, Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona

Josh Lawless

More like this

Ronaldinho refused to name Lionel
Messi as outright GOAT and claimed
three players are better than him
When Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona
played on the same team, it was pure
magic
Lionel Messi replicates iconic Diego
Maradona photo after lifting World Cup,
the two GOATs of football
Lionel Messi broke two World Cup
records in the same minute against
France

CHOSEN FOR YOU

Football Football
There are now 17 Lionel Messi
members of offered $1 million
England's World… for bisht he wore…
Cup winning team while lifting the
12 hours ago 14 hours ago
who have died World Cup

MOST READ

Football
Nearly 200,000
people sign petition
demanding FIFA t…
replay France vs.
a day ago
Argentina

Football
World Cup final
referee responds to
claims Argentina'…
goal should have
16 hours ago
been disallowed

Advertise UNILAD
Terms License Our
Privacy & Cookies Content
LADbible Group About Us & Contact
LADbible Jobs
Tyla Download our app
GAMINGbible Change Privacy
Settings