The 2006 Ballon d'Or, given to the best
football 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 the Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro on 27 November 2006.
On 16 October 2006, was announced the shortlist of 50 male players compiled by a group of experts from ''
France Football
''France Football'' is a French weekly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclusi ...
''.
There were 52 voters, from Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales. Each picked a first (5pts), second (4pts), third (3pts), fourth (2pts) and fifth choice (1pt).
Fabio Cannavaro is the last defender to have won the award.
2006 Ballon d'Or Rankings
Voted players
Non-voted players
The following 24 men were originally in contention for the 2006 Ballon d’Or, but did not receive any votes:
References
External links
''France Football'' Official website
{{Ballon d'Or recipients
2006
2006–07 in European football