Alfredo Di Stéfano

Di Stéfano won the Ballon d'Or in 1957 and 1959, and in between was runner-up to his own teammate Raymond Kopa — such was Real Madrid's grip on the award's first decade. He scored in all five of the club's consecutive European Cup finals, 1956 to 1960, taking the trophy home personally each of the first five years, and finished his Madrid career with a ratio of nearly a goal a game.

What set him apart was not the scoring but the everywhere. He defended, he directed, he appeared in his own penalty area and the opponent's within the same move. Helenio Herrera called him the most complete player there had ever been; Pelé said the same. In 1989, France Football convened once — and only once — to award the Super Ballon d'Or to the finest player of the award's first thirty years. It went to Di Stéfano, ahead of Cruyff and Platini. There has never been another.