Thirty facts about the Ballon d'Or that you *actually* didn't know, including Paul Scholes' madness

Everyone knows that Stanley Matthews won the former, and Lionel shared it with Cristiano between 2008 and 2017. But here are some facts about the Ballon d'Or that you actually won't know. Unless you do. In this case, hush.

* Karim Benzema is the first French Ballon d'Or since Zinedine Zidane in 1998.

* Karim Benzema (34 years, 9 months, 29 days) is the oldest Ballon d'Or winner since first winner Stanley Matthews (41 years, 10 months, 18 days).

*Lionel Messi was the last Ballon d'Or winner not to be in his thirties, winning the crown aged 27 in 2015.

* Mo Salah has never finished higher than 5th in a Ballon d'Or vote. This was his ranking in 2019 and 2022. The Egyptian finished 6th in 2018 and 7th in 2021.

* Heung-min Son's 11th place at the 2022 Ballon d'Or is the best result ever for an Asian player.

*Cristiano Ronaldo has received a Ballon d'Or vote every year since 2003.

* Fifty-three England players have received at least one Ballon d'Or nomination, with Phil Foden and Mason Mount the latest to earn their first nominations of 2021. David Beckham has received the most (10), followed by Bobby Charlton, Wayne Rooney (all 9), Bobby Moore (7), Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and Jimmy Greaves (all 6).

*Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d'Or the most times (7), ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (5), Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten (all 3).

*2018 was the first time Lionel Messi finished outside the Ballon d'Or top 3 since 2006, when he finished 20th with Luca Toni and John Terry. This streak of 11 consecutive podiums is the longest in the history of the Ballon d'Or, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (9).

*Manchester United have won twice as many Ballons d'Or as all other English clubs combined.

*Manchester United players have won the most Ballon d'Ors without ever having a multiple winner (four: Denis Law in 1964, Bobby Charlton in 1966, George Best in 1968 and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008).< /p>

* France Football, the initiator of the award, published a reassessment of the winners prior to 1995, when only European players were eligible to win. According to the reassessment, Pelé would be a seven-time Ballon d'Or winner, while Garrincha, Mario Kempes, Diego Maradona (twice) and Romario would also have been honored.

* Only twice have the top three Ballon d'Or winners been made up of players from a single country. In 1981, Germany made a clean sweep (Rummenigge, Breitner, Schuster). Seven years later, in 1988, the Netherlands dominated the podium (Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard).

* Only three times have the first three Ballon d'Or winners been made up of players from a single club. In 1988 (Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard) and 1989 (Van Basten, Baresi, Rijkaard), AC Milan won gold, silver and bronze. In 2010, Barcelona (Messi, Xavi, Iniesta) accumulated honors.

* Argentina, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal (all 7) are tied for the most Ballon d'Or wins by country. Next come France (both at 6), then Italy, Brazil and England (all at 5).

*Liberia have as many Ballon d'Or winners as Northern Ireland and Scotland (1).

*Barcelona have the most Ballon d'Or winners per club (13). They are followed by Real Madrid (11), then Juventus and AC Milan (8 each).

* Blackpool and Dukla Prague have had as many Ballon d'Or winners as Liverpool (1) and more than Arsenal (0).

*George Weah was the first non-European and remains the only African Ballon d'Or winner.

*Paul Scholes has received the most Ballon d'Or nominations without ever receiving a single vote (5).

*Jamie Vardy was the only England player to receive a Ballon d'Or nomination between 2013 and 2016.

* Lev Yashin is the only goalkeeper to win the Ballon d'Or.

* Fabio Cannavaro is the only defender since 1996 to have won the Ballon d'Or.

*Jimmy Greaves is the only man to receive a Ballon d'Or nomination in the same year (1961) that he played for three different clubs (Chelsea, Milan and Tottenham).

* John Jensen has scored as many goals in 99 league games for Arsenal as he has received Ballon d'Or nominations (1).

* Jamie Carragher received as many Ballon d'Or votes as Cristiano Ronaldo in 2005. They finished 20th.

* Asamoah Gyan, then of Sunderland, was the second best candidate for the Premier League Ballon d'Or in the 2010 vote.

* Cardiff (Ivor Allchurch in 1965), Scunthorpe (Ken Jones in 1959) and QPR (Don Givens in 1975) have all had a Ballon d'Or nominee.

* John Charles is the only Welshman to finish in the top three in a Ballon d'Or vote, winning bronze for Juventus in 1959.

* Fulham (Johnny Haynes, 3rd in 1961) finished on the Ball...