The World Cup has often strengthened a player’s case for the Ballon d’Or. Across successive tournaments, a handful of individuals converted international triumph into the sport’s highest individual prize in the same year.

Bobby Charlton received the Ballon d’Or on Dec. 27 following England’s 1966 World Cup success. A decade after Stanley Matthews won the inaugural prize, Charlton’s performances for England were decisive, including a semi-final in which he struck a brace against Eusébio’s Portugal. The deciding vote was cast by the Portuguese journalist Fernando Couto e Santos from Mundo Desportivo.

Paolo Rossi’s Italy story spans two tournaments. Three goals at the 1978 World Cup earned him a place in FIFA’s Team of the Tournament, but Italy finished fourth and he placed fifth in that year’s Ballon d’Or. Four years later Rossi scored six goals across the final three matches in Spain, including the opener in a 3–1 victory over West Germany in the final. Marco Tardelli and Alessandro Altobelli also scored in that final.

Lothar Matthäus powered West Germany’s 1990 charge. Already established through success with Bayern Munich and then Inter, he scored four times at the tournament, including a decisive penalty against Czechoslovakia, and finished runner-up for the competition’s Golden Ball to Salvatore Schillaci. Matthäus prevailed in the Ballon d’Or vote over Schillaci and Andreas Brehme.

Zinedine Zidane arrived at the 1998 World Cup after claiming the Serie A title with Juventus, was sent off in the group stage against Saudi Arabia, then delivered two first-half headers to defeat Brazil in the final as France won. Zidane collected both Player of the Match and the Ballon d’Or.

Ronaldo’s 2002 World Cup haul — four group goals, a last-16 strike against Belgium, the semi winner against Türkiye and a two-goal final against Germany — was followed by a move to Real Madrid and Ballon d’Or success later that year.

Fabio Cannavaro, one of only three defenders to win the Ballon d’Or, led Italy’s resilient defence in 2006 after Juventus’s 2005–06 title was later revoked. Italy kept multiple clean sheets en route to a final settled on penalties after Zinedine Zidane’s sending off; Cannavaro joined FIFA’s All-Star Team and won the Ballon d’Or.

The vote’s switch to a seasonal cycle and the winter scheduling of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar meant Lionel Messi did not receive his record-extending eighth Ballon d’Or until late 2023. Messi scored five goals leading up to the final, recovered from an opening defeat to Saudi Arabia, then scored twice in the 3–3 final with France and helped Argentina to victory on penalties under Lionel Scaloni before his retirement.

Christian Eriksen has criticised the role that former Manchester United players in the media can play in increasing pressure on the current squad. The Denmark international, who is now at Wolfsburg after leaving Old Trafford in the summer, told ESPN that negative commentary from high-profile ex-players can make life harder for those still at the club.

“You see how big the club is, how much people want to be involved with the club, even on the media attention. I think even now we speak about United here. It’s just the power of the club,” Eriksen said. He added: “Obviously the more opinionated, the more feelings towards the club are negative, the tougher it is, because the fans follow their heroes on the TV and it doesn’t help the players at the club.”

Eriksen also called for a more measured assessment of United’s recent record. The club have not won the Premier League since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 but have continued to collect domestic and European cup trophies more frequently than many rivals. The Red Devils picked up the FA Cup little over a year ago and the League Cup the season before that. There have been other FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League successes, making it five trophies in the last 12 years. In pure numbers, it’s only two fewer trophies than Liverpool, albeit not similar Premier League or Champions League successes, and one more than Arsenal.

“I think obviously [fans] want to get back to being stable as a top club, but even being there, winning the FA Cup and the Carabao in the last two seasons is something that any other club would be proud of to have done,” Eriksen said. “Then there is also the size and the image and the feeling at United—it’s like it’s not good enough. I think hopefully that will change. Even the Carabao is a small thing, but at that moment it is a big thing.”

His comments underline the tension between a club’s global profile and the expectations placed on players by supporters influenced by media voices.

The 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony produced notable upheaval across the men’s rankings, with Ousmane Dembélé claiming the main prize for the first time and becoming just the sixth French player to win. The winner had never been shortlisted for the award until 2025. On the women’s side Aitana Bonmatí secured a third-straight Ballon d’Or Féminin, matching Lionel Messi as the only other player to win the Ballon d’Or three times in a row. First-time winners in the women’s game for the Kopa, Yashin and Gerd Müller awards were Vicky López, Hannah Hampton and Ewa Pajor.

Comparing the 2024 and 2025 shortlists highlights large movements. Cole Palmer rose from 25th to 8th for Chelsea, an increase of 17 places. Vitinha moved from 27th to 3rd for PSG, a jump of 24 spots. Several players who were unranked in 2024 entered high positions in 2025: Ousmane Dembélé (PSG) to 1st, Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) to 4th, Raphinha (Barcelona) to 5th, Achraf Hakimi (PSG) to 6th, Pedri (Barcelona) to 11th, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG) to 12th and Scott McTominay (Napoli) to 18th.

There were sizeable declines as well. Rodri (Man City) and Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid) fell off the 2025 shortlist entirely after seasons disrupted by injury. Rodri, notably, was on crutches when he accepted his 2024 award. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) dropped from 2nd to 16th, Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) from 3rd to 23rd and Erling Haaland (Man City) from 5th to 26th. Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan) moved from 7th to 20th, Florian Wirtz (in his final season at Leverkusen) fell from 12th to 29th and Phil Foden dropped off the shortlist.

Other active players who did not return to the 2025 list include Dani Olmo, Ademola Lookman, Martin Ødegaard, Federico Valverde, William Saliba, Antonio Rüdiger and Nico Williams. The reshuffle underlined how form, fitness and club trajectories altered perceptions between the 2024 and 2025 shortlists.