What is the Super Golden Ball? Who is the only footballer to have it?

Do you know what the Super Golden Ball is? In December 1989, in the 20th century. The well-known France Football magazine celebrated its 30th anniversary with an award as special as it was unknown up to that moment: the Super Golden Ball.

What is the Super Golden Ball?

This trophy aimed to recognize the best Golden Ball winner of all time. Since the creation of the award, many football stars had won it. Platini, Cruyff, Di Stéfano, and many others vied to be the best of the best. In the end, it was Di Stéfano, the legend of Real Madrid, who won this unique award in history. In fact, Di Stéfano is the only player in history to have a Super Golden Ball.

Since then, France Football has never again celebrated this type of event, except for the honorary Ballon d’Or that Diego Armando Maradona won in 1995 to mark the opening of the award to non-European players (Argentinian Di Stéfano also held Spanish nationality). The same year in which the first and only African in history, George Weah, won it. The Liberian is undoubtedly one of the greatest African players in history.

Should the Super Golden Ball be brought back?

Considering the recent years where Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have competed and shared all the Ballon d’Or awards, should they consider reintroducing the Super Golden Ball? Who would win it?

Should they each be given one since they are the two players who have won it the most in history? Questions that with the separation of the Ballon d’Or and FIFA’s The Best seem unlikely to be answered anytime soon.

The footballers who have won the Ballon d’Or the most times

Leo Messi 8: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 , 2019, 2021 y 2023
Cristiano Ronaldo 5: 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 y 2017
Johan Cruyff 3: 1971, 1973, 1974
Marco van Basten 3: 1988, 1989, 1992
Michel Platini 3: 1983, 1984, 1985
Franz Beckenbauer 2: 1972, 1976
Kevin Keegan 2: 1978, 1979
Ronaldo 2: 1997, 2002
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge 2: 1980, 1981
Alfredo Di Stéfano 2: 1957, 1959