The greatest XI to have won the Ballon d'Or
Many great players have won the prestigious Ballon d'Or - an individual award established by the French Football magazine. Since its introduction in 1956, 64 editions of the award have taken place, with 42 different winners walking away with the Ballon d'Or accolade.
It is important to note that only players playing in Europe were eligible for the award till 1995. Due to that rule, all-time greats like Diego Maradona, Pele and Garrincha, unfortunately, missed out on the Ballon d'Or award, despite having the statistics and silverware to match.
However, Maradona and Pele received honourary Ballon d'Or awards for their services to football in 1995 and 2013 respectively.
Maradona with the Ballon d'Or award in 1995 馃嚘馃嚪馃弳 https://t.co/cWkEj3p0q3
Pele was also elected the 'Football Player of the Century' by France Football in 1999, in consultation with the previous winners of the Ballon d'Or award.
Happy birthday King Pele
The greatest footballer of all times and
Footballer of the century https://t.co/ICmqCAGxaU
While individual awards do not have the final say on a player's quality throughout their career, they do separate the best from the rest. One can see that the greatest players in history often made it a habit to win - be it for the team or on a personal level. However, only a handful of these greats were recognised for their efforts by being awarded the Ballon d'Or award.
On that note, here's a look at a hypothetical greatest XI of players who won the Ballon d'Or award.:
Note: This is a hypothetical list, and some players have been deployed out of their usual positions.
Goalkeeper - Lev Yashin (Dynamo Moscow & USSR)
Lev Ivanovich Yashin was born in 1929 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in a family of industrial workers. He spent most of his childhood and early teens working for various ammunition factories supporting the USSR's war efforts.
Yashin was part of the factory's football team, and was spotted playing for them one day, making a great impact on the pitch. Such was his pedigree that Yashin was invited to join the Dynamo Moscow youth team when he was just 18.
Lev Yashin went on to play for Dynamo for the entire duration of his 20-year long professional career. With them, he won the USSR Championship five times, and the Soviet Cup thrice.
With his tall stature, he was an imposing presence, and he displayed great athleticism while making saves. His spectacular ability and positional sense earned him the nickname 'Black Spider' internationally, while he was more popular as 'Black Panther' locally.
Goalkeeper #LevYashin in action for the #USSR against #Italy, at #RokerPark, #WC1966. https://t.co/UADiQCldcS
Yashin was called up to the Soviet national team in 1954, and went on to make 78 appearances. He won gold at the 1956 Summer Olympics and the inaugural European Championship in 1960 (formerly known as the European Nations' Cup).
Yashin also stopped a staggering 151 penalty kicks in his career - the most by a goalkeeper in history. He also kept over 270 clean sheets in all appearances for club and country.
He won the Ballon d'Or award in 1963. That year, he starred in the England vs Rest of the World game, earning plaudits for his performances. Yashin remains the only goalkeeper in history to have won the Ballon d'Or award.
Defender - Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus and Italy)
Fabio Cannavaro began his career with Napoli before moving to Parma and establishing himself as one of Italy's best defenders, winning both domestic and European silverware.
He had short trophyless spells at Inter Milan and Juventus after that. Cannavaro moved to Real Madrid in 2006 following the Calciopoli scandal that cast a black cloud over Italian football.
The Italian defender was known for his leadership qualities and ability to organise and rally his troops. That led to success with the national team as well.
馃搮 #OnThisDay: In 2006, Fabio Cannavaro won the Ballon d'Or 馃嚠馃嚬馃ぉ
He is one of just 饾檹饾檭饾檷饾檧饾檧 defenders to have ever won the award 馃 https://t.co/WsNhyePfi0
Cannavaro was crucial to the Italy side that reached the Euro 2000 final, only to lose to France on Golden Goal'. He was named Italy's captain following Paolo Maldini's retirement in 2002, and guided the nation to a FIFA World Cup triumph in 2006. It was fitting they won the penalty shootout against the same opposition that defeated them in the Euro final six years earlier.
Fabio Cannavaro won the Ballon d'Or award in 2006, becoming only the third defender in history to win the prestigious award.
Defender - Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich and Germany)
Franz Beckenbauer is often credited with inventing a position on the pitch now known as the 'sweeper'. The German began his career in a decimated, post-war ruins of Munich, Germany.
As a teenager, Beckenbauer hoped to play for 1860 Munich - the team he supported. However, due to the opportunity of playing in a local under-14 tournament, he chose to sign and play for Bayern Munich instead.
Beckenbauer debuted against FC St. Pauli in 1964, helping Bayern win the Regionalliga Sud and earning promotion to the Bundesliga. The German went on to make 546 appearances for Bayern, scoring 58 goals and providing 75 assists.
He went on to win four Bundesliga crowns, four DFB Pokal Cups and three European Cups with the Bavarian giants. Beckenbauer also won the 1972 UEFA European Championship and the 1974 FIFA World Cup with West Germany.
馃嚛馃嚜 Der Kaiser 馃挭
馃弳馃弳 The elegant and dominant Germany defender lifted the #WorldCup trophy as captain in 1974 & repeated the feat as a manager in 1990.
馃巶 Happy birthday, Franz Beckenbauer!
https://t.co/G9ISbk2tRV
His exploits on the pitch, combined with his elegant style of play, earned Franz Beckenbauer the nickname 'Der Kaiser' or 'The King'.
Beckenbauer won the Ballon d'Or award in 1972 for the first time, becoming the first defender in history to win the honour. He repeated the feat in 1976, winning his second Ballon d'Or award.