Why Pele and Maradona Never Won a Ballon d'Or: The Rule That Kept Them Out
Pele won three World Cups. Diego Maradona's magical performances carried Argentina to the 1986 World Cup. The two legends top any discussion of the greatest footballers of all time.
Yet neither ever won a competitive Ballon d'Or — one of football's most prestigious individual awards.
The reason was not any shortfall in their performances, but a limitation in the award's own rules.
Football fans around the world are now counting down to the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony, to be held on 26 October at London's Palladium, marking the award's 70th year.
At such a moment, the story of why Pele and Maradona never won it has come back into discussion.
The French magazine France Football launched the Ballon d'Or in 1956. Back then, only European footballers playing for European clubs were eligible for the award.
As a result, no matter how brilliantly players from South America, Africa or elsewhere performed, they could not be considered for the prize.
That rule kept Pele out of the race. He spent most of his career with the Brazilian club Santos; although he won the World Cup with Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970, he never qualified for the award.
Maradona fell victim to the same rule. Even though he played for European clubs like Barcelona and Napoli, his Argentine nationality kept him out of Ballon d'Or contention.
Missing out even after almost single-handedly winning Argentina the 1986 World Cup remains one of the most talked-about episodes in football history.
In 1995 came a major rule change: footballers of any nationality playing for a European club could be considered for the award.
After that change, Liberian striker George Weah became the first non-European to win the Ballon d'Or, while playing for PSG and AC Milan.
The rules were widened again in 2007, opening the award to footballers at any club in any country. But by then, both Pele and Maradona had retired.
Even without a competitive Ballon d'Or, both received honorary recognition. Maradona was given an honorary Ballon d'Or in 1995 for his extraordinary career.
And Pele received an honorary FIFA Ballon d'Or at the 2013 award ceremony, held in January 2014 — though these honors are not counted as competitive wins in the official winners' list.
In the modern game, Lionel Messi has won it eight times and Cristiano Ronaldo five — a record of success all their own.
