Ballon d'Or nominees: Here is a full list of every Scottish player in history to nominated for the award
Here’s the full list of Scotland players to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or award.
An award that every footballer dreams of winning, but only a few have. The Ballon d’Or 2025 awards are now just hours away from beginning, with Scottish football able to boast two nominations for the first time in history.
The 69th annual ceremony in history, France Football magazine announced its list of nominations for the 2025 awards last month, and the footballing world will now convene to discover which footballer will be crowned as the world’s best over the calendar year.
Scheduled to take place on Monday, 22 September 2025, CBS sports broadcaster Kate Scott and ex-Netherlands international Ruud Gullit will host the event at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, with the ceremony getting under way at 8pm local time, with two Scotland internationals in the running for the men’s and women’s award. But how many Scots have been nominated for the award before?
Here is the full list of Scotland players to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or award, from 1962 to 2025:
Which Scottish player is nominated for the Ballon d’Or 2025?
This year’s Ballon d’Or has two Scottish players nominated for the award for the first time in history. Scotland talisman Scott McTominay is nominated for the first time in his career after an outstanding debut season for Serie A giants Napoli, where he won the Scudetto and was named the league’s most valuable player.
Real Madrid superstar Caroline Weir becomes Scotland’s first women’s player to be nominated for the award, after its introduction in 2018. The 30-year-old playmaker was named in the Spanish Primera División Team of the Year after scoring 10 goals for Las Blancas in the 2024/25 season on her comeback from an ACL injury. Many were surprised at the omission of former Scotland captain Kim Little, who helped Arsenal win the Women’s Champions League last year, which would have given the Tartan Army three nominations.
Who was the last Scottish player to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or?
Prior to McTominay and Weir’s nomination at this year’s awards, Rangers and Scotland striker Ally McCoist was the last to be nominated for the award. While he didn’t win the trophy, he placed 21st in the voting after a goal-laden 1986/87 season with Rangers, where he scored 34 league goals.
Has a Scottish player ever won the Ballon d’Or?
Yes, one Scotland player has won the award previously, with the late, great Denis Law named as the Ballon d’Or winner in 1964. An iconic figure with the Scotland national team and Manchester United, he was nominated for the award on seven occasions reflecting his status as one of Scotland’s greatest-ever players.
Law was crowned the winner in 1964 ahead of Inter Milan’s Luis Suárez and Real Madrid’s Amancio, following a stellar season with Manchester United which saw him bag 30 goals in 30 matches, despite missing some games due to minor injuries.
Which Scottish players have been nominated for the Ballon d’Or?
In total, Scotland has had six nominations in the Ballon d’Or, with five of them in the men’s category, and one in the women’s. Aside from McTominay and Weir’s inclusion this year, the following players have been nominated:
- Denis Law
The former Manchester United, Manchester City, Torino and Huddersfield Town forward has the most nominations of any Scottish player in the history of the Ballon d’Or, with seven nominations in total. The only player to win the award, the Aberdeen-born legend sadly died earlier this year at the age of 84.
Nominations: 1962, 1963, 1964 (winner), 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970
- Kenny Dalglish
Placing narrowly behind Law in the list is former Celtic and Liverpool legend Dalglish, who has six Ballon d’Or nominations. Scotland’s all time record goal-scorer went close to winning the award in 1983 when he named runner-up to French icon Michel Platini.
Nominations: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983
- Jimmy Johnstone
One of Celtic’s most loved and cherished players, ‘Jinky’ Johnstone was named on the nominations list in 1967, after starring in the Hoops’ historic European Cup win in 1967 under Jock Stein. He placed third in the voting, narrowly missing out on the win to Ferencvaros’ Flórián Albert and Manchester United’s Bobby Charlton.
Nominations: 1967
- Ally McCoist
The Rangers legend was the last Scottish male player nominated before 2025, earning a nomination in 1987 for his prolific goal-scoring in the Scottish Premiership
Nominations: 1987
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