The 1998 Ballon d'Or, given to the best

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

member countries, was awarded to

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most ...

on 22 December 1998.

Rankings

Additionally, nineteen players were nominated but received no votes:

Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. He spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre back at Arsenal, making 672 ...

Roberto Baggio Roberto Baggio (; born 18 February 1967) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, or as an attacking midfielder, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. He is the former pre ...

Zvonimir Boban Zvonimir "Zvone" Boban (; born 8 October 1968) is a Croatian former footballer who currently works at UEFA as the Chief of Football. Boban played as a midfielder and was usually deployed as an attacking midfielder. He played most of his professi ...

Fabio Cannavaro Fabio Cannavaro (; born 13 September 1973) is an Italian professional football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of club Benevento. A centre-back, he spent the majority of his career in Italy. He started his career at Napo ...

, Denílson,

Tore André Flo Tore André Flo (born 15 June 1973) is a Norwegian former professional football striker and coach who is the manager of 1. divisjon club Sogndal. He was capped 76 times, scoring 23 goals for Norway, and represented his country in 1998 FIFA Wor ...

Adrian Ilie Bucurel Adrian “The Cobra” Ilie (born 20 April 1974) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He represented the Romania national team in one World Cup and two European Championships. Club career Ilie began h ...

Filippo Inzaghi Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi (; born 9 August 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He was nicknamed "Superpippo" or "Alta tensione" by fans and commentators during his playing career. He is t ...

Robert Jarni Robert Jarni (born 26 October 1968) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a left winger or wingback and current manager. Jarni started his professional career with Hajduk Split in 1986, and went on to spend 10 years playin ...

Hidetoshi Nakata is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest Asian players of all time. Nakata began his professional career in 1995 and won the Asian Football Confederation Player ...

Pavel Nedvěd Pavel Nedvěd (; born 30 August 1972) is a Czech former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He is regarded as one of the most successful players to emerge from the Czech Republic, winning domestic and Europe ...

Sunday Oliseh Sunday Ogochukwu Oliseh (born 14 September 1974) is a Nigerian football manager and former player. In his active playing career he played as a defensive midfielder. Physical yet technically gifted, he played for top European clubs including Aja ...

Ariel Ortega Ariel Arnaldo Ortega (born 4 March 1974) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. His nickname is "El Burrito" (''The Little Donkey''), thus he is called "Burrito Ortega". Ariel Ortega first played f ...

Gianluca Pagliuca Gianluca Pagliuca (; born 18 December 1966) is an Italian football coach and former professional goalkeeper. He is regarded by pundits as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, and one of Italy's best keepers ever. Throughout his c ...

Marcelo Salas José Marcelo Salas Melinao (; born 24 December 1974), nicknamed ''Matador'' (due to his goalscoring celebrations), ''El Fenómeno'' and ''Shileno'', is a Chilean former footballer who played as a striker. Salas is considered the best strik ...

David Seaman David Andrew Seaman (born 19 September 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a career lasting from 1981 to 2004, he is best known for his time playing for Arsenal. He won 75 caps for England, and is the country's ...

Andriy Shevchenko Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko, or Andrii Mykolaiovych Shevchenko ( uk, Андрій Миколайович Шевченко, ; born 29 September 1976) is a Ukrainian football manager, a former professional football player and a former politici ...

Juan Sebastián Verón Juan Sebastián Verón (; born 9 March 1975) is an Argentine former professional footballer and current chairman of Estudiantes de La Plata, where he had served as Director of Sports. A former midfielder, Verón's career started in Estudiantes, ...

and

Iván Zamorano Iván Luis Zamorano Zamora (; born 18 January 1967) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is regarded as one of Chile's most recognized footballers, along with Marcelo Salas, Leonel Sánchez and Elias Figueroa ...

References

External links

''France Football'' Official Ballon d'Or page
{{Ballon d'Or recipients

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

1998–99 in European football