Despite failing to win a team title throughout the season, Kylian Mbappé remains a strong contender for the 70th Ballon d'Or. Has this ever happened before?
Despite failing to win a team title throughout the season, Kylian Mbappé remains a strong contender for the 70th Ballon d'Or. Has this ever happened before?
No league title, no cup title, no Super Cup title, yet still able to win the Ballon d'Or? Kylian Mbappé hasn't won any team honors this year, either for Real Madrid or the French national team, but after a successful World Cup, he remains a strong contender for this top individual award. However, in Ballon d'Or history, has any player ever won the award after a trophyless season?
According to L'Équipe's database, we reviewed the list of past winners: this situation, while rare, does exist. The reason for raising this question is that the French captain is leading by a wide margin in our online poll.
Stanley Matthews, the inaugural Ballon d'Or winner in 1956, is a prime example. Other examples include Denis Law in 1964 and Kevin Keegan in 1978. For a more recent example, consider Portugal.
In 2000, Luis Figo won this award despite not having a team championship all season.
Thirteen years later, Cristiano Ronaldo won his second Ballon d'Or, the same year he also didn't win any team trophies.
Finally, there is a very special example: this player won the Ballon d'Or in a season where he won nothing, and was also the top scorer in Europe and the World Cup, scoring 10 goals, but did not participate in the final - he was Gerd Müller in 1970.
