Awarded by France Football magazine, the Ballon d'Or (English translation: The Golden Ball) is often referred to as 'The European Footballer Of The Year' award, and it is chosen each year by football journalists.

When it began life in 1956, it was only open to European Players who were playing for European clubs, but in 1995 this was broadened to also include non-European players who were based at European clubs. In 2007 this was expanded again to include all players of all nationalities, playing for all global football clubs. In 2007, more journalists were added to the pool which chooses the winner, with 96 football writers - up from 52 - now picking their top five players from the previous calendar year. All of their votes are combined and this is how the winner of the Ballon d'Or is chosen.

Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, and Marco van Basten have all won the award three times, but current UEFA President, Platini, is the only one to have won it for three years in a row. The most recent award was handed to Argentinean playmaker, Lionel Messi, on December the 1st 2009. The Barcelona player was part of a list of 30 nominee's, which was announced in the middle of October, with a shortlist of the top 10 announced at the end of November, just a couple of days before the official 2009 Ballon d'Or announcement itself.