According to official Ballon d'Or statistics, Stanley Matthews, the winner of the inaugural Ballon d'Or in 1956, remains the oldest recipient in history.
Stanley Matthews was the first winner in Ballon d'Or history and may forever hold the record as the oldest winner. When the English forward claimed the first Ballon d'Or in 1956, he was aged 41 years, 10 months and 17 days, making him the oldest Ballon d'Or winner across both men's and women's football. Back then, only European players were eligible to compete for this honor until 1995.
Lionel Messi is the oldest men's Ballon d'Or winner since the award went global.
On the all-time list, the player closest to Stanley Matthews is Messi, who is also the oldest men's winner of the globalized Ballon d'Or. Messi claimed the Ballon d'Or once again in 2023 at the age of 36 years, 3 months and 6 days. He also ranks fourth on this list; when he won his seventh Ballon d'Or in 2021, he was 34 years, 5 months and 5 days old.
Karim Benzema, winner of the 2022 Ballon d'Or, takes third place. The French forward received the award at the age of 34 years, 9 months and 29 days. Another entry in the top five comes from the Women's Ballon d'Or: Megan Rapinoe won the award in 2019 aged 34 years, 4 months and 28 days.