Every Liverpool Ballon d'Or winner ever

As one of world football's most iconic institutions and prolific winners, it's hardly surprising that Liverpool have boasted a plethora of Ballon d'Or contenders since the award was conceived in 1956.

The 19-time English top-flight winners, eight-time FA Cup victors and six-time European champions have produced and attracted some of the most exceptional talents to grace a football pitch.

However, that hasn't always translated into individual acclaim. In fact, Liverpool have a surprisingly short history when it comes to past Ballon d'Or kings, although there have been a few close calls involving the Reds.

Here is every Liverpool player to have won the Ballon d'Or.

Every player who has won the Ballon d'Or with Liverpool

Only one player has ever won the Ballon d'Or while representing the Reds. Forget Steven Gerrard, Kenny Dalglish and Mohamed Salah, it's former Liverpool striker Michael Owen who is the club's sole representative at the Ballon d'Or winner's table.

Despite tarnishing his Liverpool legacy with moves to Real Madrid and eventually Manchester United, Owen was once the darling of the city. Having risen through the ranks at Anfield at an alarming rate, swiftly finding his feet in the forward line, Owen was hailed as the club's next saviour.

Owen scored ten or more goals in every Premier League season with the Reds bar his first campaign in which he made just two appearances, but his peak arrived in 2000/01. While his following two seasons were more prolific, Owen's hand in Liverpool's treble of trophies at the turn of the century cemented his status as a world-class talent.

The Merseysiders won the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup under Gerard Houllier and Owen's goals were key to their success, with the England international most notably producing a late five-minute brace in the FA Cup final to secure a 2-1 comeback victory against Arsenal. He unsurprisingly finished top scorer for the Reds with 24 strikes in all competitions.

Owen fought off future Madrid teammate Raul and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn to win the Ballon d'Or. Given Liverpool have no nominees in the 2024 Ballon d'Or vote, Owen's record as their only champion will continue for now.

Liverpool players who have finished in the Ballon d'Or top three

Despite their dominance over English football for so long, it wasn't until 1983 that Liverpool boasted a representative on the Ballon d'Or podium. It was naturally King Kenny, who came second in 1983 to Juventus and France's Michel Platini.

Dalglish never tasted Ballon d'Or glory despite his genius and Gerrard suffered a similar fate with the Reds. He had to settle for a third-placed finish in 2005 behind Frank Lampard and winner Ronaldinho, despite having been the linchpin in the Liverpool side that produced that comeback against AC Milan in the Champions League final the same year.

Fernando Torres, Gerrard's partner in crime at Anfield in the late 2000s, also managed a third-placed Ballon d'Or finish in 2008 after scoring the winning goal in the European Championship final with Spain that season. The striker had also netted 33 goals in all competitions in his debut campaign with Liverpool.

Making up a formidable quartet of nearly men is Virgil van Dijk, who was runner-up to Lionel Messi in 2019. The Dutch defender had transformed Jurgen Klopp's side after joining from Southampton and helped the Reds win the Champions League that very year before claiming the Premier League title the next season.

Kevin Keegan and Sadio Mane finished second themselves in 1977 and 2022 respectively having shone at Liverpool for much of the year, but they were representing Hamburg and Bayern Munich by the time the Ballon d'Or was awarded. Keegan went on to win the award twice during his spell in Germany.

Every Liverpool player to finish on the Ballon d'Or podium

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