What is the startling Ballon d'Or fact in Real Madrid's squad that has not happened in 25 years?
Updated 29/07/2025 at 09:16 GMT+1
Since the turn of the century, Real Madrid have had a glorious era on the pitch, picking up nine La Liga titles and eight UEFA Champions League crowns, among other triumphs. Team success has led to individual awards, with the likes of Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema all being recognised with the Ballon d'Or. But the club are now experiencing a rare dynamic.
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Real Madrid have been accustomed to hoovering up collective and individual awards at the sharp end of the footballing world - but it was not always that way.
The club experienced a long, fallow period between 1966 and 1998, waiting 32 years before their sixth and seventh European Cup titles, and there was an even longer wait in the Ballon d'Or stakes.
After Alfredo di Stefano won the famed individual gong in 1959, Los Blancos did not get another Ballon d'Or winner until 2000, when Luis Figo - fresh off his bitter move from Barcelona - picked up the award.
From the turn of the century onwards - despite a 12-year wait for La Decima - they have more than made up for their late 20th-century drought, racking up a colossal eight UEFA Champions League crowns and six different Ballon d'Or winners, with 10 in total.
After Figo, came Ronaldo in 2002, Fabio Cannavaro in 2006, Cristiano Ronaldo's five golden wins, Luka Modric in 2018 and finally Karim Benzema in 2022.
As well as those that won their Ballon d'Ors in white, the likes of Zinedine Zidane (Juventus), Michael Owen (Liverpool) and Kaka (AC Milan) - who all won theirs at other clubs before moving to Real - meant that since 2000 there has always been a Ballon d'Or winner at the Bernabeu.
But now, with Modric departing to AC Milan this summer, Real do not have a Ballon d'Or winner in their squad for the first time in 25 years.
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There was, of course, the hugely controversial situation last year as Vinicius Junior and his club refused to attend the Ballon d'Or ceremony in protest at the voting that gave the award to Manchester City's Rodri.
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In a statement at the time, Real wrote: "If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to [Dani] Carvajal as the winner.
"As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or does not respect Real Madrid. Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected."
Vinicius finished second in the 2024 voting with Jude Bellingham third, while in 2023, current star forward Kylian Mbappe - then of Paris Saint-Germain - ended third.
There are, therefore, plentiful options within the Real squad to win another Ballon d'Or, but under new boss Xabi Alonso and with a raft of new players coming into the club, there is no guarantee they will gel immediately, especially with PSG looking set for a period of continental dominance.
But, as time has shown, Real have emerged from periods of drought and doubt before, and will back themselves to once more win the silverware that will likely lead to individual recognition.
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