Why has Pele never won the Ballon d’Or?

PELE has won the biggest awards football has to offer – but he never got his hands on the Ballon d’Or.

The Brazilian icon’s daughter has sadly confirmed that he will spend his Christmas in hospital.

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And Pele is the talk of the town as he continues his horrific battle with cancer.

Aside from winning, Pele was always remembered for his phenomenal goal-scoring talent THREE World Championships.

But fans have always been puzzled as to why the Brazilian idol was never presented with football’s most prestigious individual award.

Why has Pele never won the Ballon d’Or?

Pele was widely recognized as the world’s greatest footballer of his time.

But the three-time world champion doesn’t have a Ballon d’Or trophy in his cupboard as only European players were eligible to win it at the time.

Liberian superstar George Weah was the first non-European player to win the award in 1995.

And Brazilian Ronaldo became the first South American footballer to be crowned with the prestigious trophy in 1997.

What did Pele win instead?

Pele instead won French football’s biggest individual award – Footballer of the Century in 1999.

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But in 2016, France Football relaunched every Ballon d’Or award from 1956 to 1995, including non-European players.

And Pele was voted the winner of seven of those awards, but they were unofficial achievements, meaning the Brazilian icon still doesn’t have a Ballon d’Or to his name.

Pele – everything you need to know about the Brazilian icon

PELE is widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time.

Here you will find all information about the football titan.