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Players to Finish Top 3 in the Ballon d'Or Whilst Playing in the UK

Can you name all the superstars to finish in the Top 3 of the Ballon d'Or rankings whilst playing in the UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) since the award's inception? The Ballon d'Or is the award given to the adjudged best player in the world during the time period stated. Try the other Ballon d'Or themed quizzes in this series here!
Data collected via Wikipedia.
Between the years 1956-1995 the award was only available to European players so was widely known as the European Football of the Year (hence why South American players such as Pele and Maradona don't appear). This was changed in 1995 to include all players currently playing in Europe and was again expanded in 2007 to include any player from around the globe.
From 1956-2006 the award was specifically voted for by football journalists. In 2008, coaches and captains of the National Teams were given a chance to vote but this was limited in 2022 to include only countries within the Top 100 of the FIFA Rankings.
The points total is decided based on the votes whereby each voter had to pick their rankings and each position they picked were assigned points. The same is true when the points were broadcast as percentages instead. If players are tied on the same points this is represented in the table.
Quiz by WatsonWonder
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Last updated: April 6, 2024
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First submittedMarch 19, 2023
Times taken125
Average score69.0%
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Type Player's Name...
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Year
Rank
Player
Team
Points
Ballon d'Or (1956-2009)
1956
1st
Stanley Matthews
Blackpool
47
 
 
 
 
 
1957
2nd
Billy Wright
Wolverhampton Wanderers
19
3rd
Duncan Edwards
Manchester United
16
 
 
 
 
 
1961
3rd
Johnny Haynes
Fulham
22
 
 
 
 
 
1963
3rd
Jimmy Greaves
Tottenham Hotspur
50
 
 
 
 
 
1964
1st
Denis Law
Manchester United
61
 
 
 
 
 
1966
1st
Bobby Charlton
Manchester United
81
 
 
 
 
 
1967
2nd
Bobby Charlton
Manchester United
40
3rd
Jimmy Johnstone
Celtic
39
 
 
 
 
 
1968
1st
George Best
Manchester United
61
2nd
Bobby Charlton
Manchester United
53
 
 
 
 
 
1970
2nd
Bobby Moore
West Ham United
70
 
 
 
 
 
1971
3rd
George Best
Manchester United
56
 
 
 
 
 
1983
2nd
Kenny Dalglish
Liverpool
26
 
 
 
 
 
1993
3rd
Eric Cantona
Manchester United
34
 
 
 
 
 
1996
3rd
Alan Shearer
Newcastle United
107
 
 
 
 
 
1999
2nd
David Beckham
Manchester United
154
 
 
 
 
 
2001
1st
Michael Owen
Liverpool
176
 
 
 
 
 
2003
2nd
Thierry Henry
Arsenal
128
 
 
 
 
 
2005
2nd
Frank Lampard
Chelsea
148
3rd
Steven Gerrard
Liverpool
142
 
 
 
 
 
2006
3rd
Thierry Henry
Arsenal
121
 
 
 
 
 
2007
2nd
Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester United
277
 
 
 
 
 
2008
1st
Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester United
446
3rd
Fernando Torres
Liverpool
179
 
 
 
 
 
2019
2nd
Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool
679
 
 
 
 
 
2021
3rd
Jorginho
Chelsea
460
 
 
 
 
 
2022
2nd
Sadio Mané
Liverpool
193
3rd
Kevin De Bruyne
Manchester City
175
1 Comments
+1
Level 65
Jan 4, 2024
Very fun and challenging! It would be nice to have a LaLiga version but anyways great quiz!!!