Which Liverpool Players Have Won The Ballon d’Or? Current Liverpool Players’ Highest Ballon d’Or Ranking

On Monday night, Lionel Messi (unsurprisingly) won his eighth Ballon d’Or at the ceremony in Paris, setting off everyone’s favorite football argument starter.

Only Mohamed Salah, a player for Liverpool, was one of the other 29 nominees for the men’s award in 2023.

The 31-year-old, who has qualified for the final cut every year since moving to Anfield in 2017, came in 11th place among journalists from across the world who were selected by France Football.

But there wasn’t much Liverpool presence on the list of this year’s top male players, following a dismal campaign both domestically and in Europe last season.

Salah’s lone nomination represented a significant departure from 2022, when six players from Jurgen Klopp’s team were included, including the recently departed Sadio Mane of Liverpool, who finished second in the voting following his AFCON victory.

Under Klopp, Liverpool players have generally been familiar with the Ballon d’Or shortlist. However, which players from the current squad have received nominations and where have they placed highest in the voting?

CURRENT LIVERPOOL PLAYERS’ HIGHEST BALLON D’OR RANKING

Virgil van Dijk – 2nd (2019)

After winning the Champions League, the captain of Liverpool is best known for coming in runner-up in the voting behind Messi for the 2019 award.

Although the center-back won the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award that year, the then-Barcelona star won the Ballon d’Or award. Since 2006, when Fabio Cannavaro took home the trophy, he is still the only defender to rank in the top three.

Mohamed Salah – 5th (2019, 2022)

The all-time leading scorer in the Premier League and Europe for Liverpool has twice finished in the top five and should feel fortunate not to have finished even higher.

He would have been the clear winner if the year 2022 had gone differently, with Egypt vying for AFCON glory and Liverpool attempting to complete a historic treble.

Alisson Becker – 7th (2019) *1st in Yashin Trophy

Following the Reds’ triumph in Europe, Alisson finished seventh overall in 2019 and won the first Yashin Trophy for goalkeepers.

But he was controversially left off of the 2023 shortlist for the same award.

Luis Diaz – 17th (2022)

Following the cup double, Liverpool’s Colombian winger was one of the six Reds nominated for 2022.

After joining Anfield in the middle of the season from Porto, Diaz had a great debut and even won Man of the Match against Chelsea in the FA Cup final.

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 19th (2019)

Alexander-Arnold was nominated twice, with his best finish occurring in 2019 when he led Liverpool to Champions League glory.

That year, no fullback finished higher in the rankings.

Darwin Nuñez – 25th (2022)

Nuñez, who set a club record when he moved from Benfica to Liverpool last year, was nominated for the first time along with five other players, finishing joint-25th.

Liverpool’s new number nine should expect greater recognition in the years to come after settling in at Anfield.

WHICH LIVERPOOL PLAYERS HAVE WON THE BALLON D’OR?

Michael Owen was the only player in history to win the Ballon d’Or while still representing Liverpool in 2001.

The former striker, who was only 22 years old at the time, had a fantastic year, scoring 31 goals and leading Gerard Houllier’s team to a historic treble.

Among his year-long highlights were his hat-trick in England’s 5-1 victory over Germany and his historic late brace against Arsenal in the FA Cup final.

Owen became just the fourth Englishman to win the award after Stanley Matthews (1956), Bobby Charlton (1966), and Keegan (1978, 1979), narrowly defeating Real Madrid forward Raul to the honor.

Since then, no British athlete has won the trophy.

Over the years, the achievements of Liverpool legends Kenny Dalglish, Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Van Dijk, and Mane (who had left Anfield by the time of the ceremony in 2022) have earned them votes into the Ballon d’Or top three.