Updated: 28 January, 2023.
Every professional footballer dreams of winning lots of trophies in his career; both collective and individual titles.
At the national level, the FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious trophy. At club level, the UEFA Champions League is the most sought-after, while the Ballon d’Or is the premier individual achievement.
Throughout history, just only 9 players have won have won the FIFA World Cup, the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, and the Ballon d’Or during their careers.
Three of these players are Brazilians.
In this article, FootballOrbit brings you the nine football players that have “won it all”.
Note: The European Cup is now called the UEFA Champions League.
1. Bobby Charlton
World Cup: 1966
Ballon d’Or: 1966
Champions League: 1968
One of the 10 greatest Manchester United players of all time, Bobby Charlton played a pivotal role as England won their first and, till date, only World Cup in 1966.
He scored in the group stages against Mexico, but most notably; it was his two goals against Portugal in the semi-finals that booked England’s place in the final.
Furthermore, he set up Geoff Hurst’s equaliser in the final, as England went on to beat Germany 4-2 at Wembley.
Charlton’s exploits saw him win the Ballon d’Or that same year.
Two years later, he scored twice — again at Wembley — for Manchester United in the European Cup final.
2. Gerd Müller
World Cup: 1974
Ballon d’Or: 1970
Champions League: 1974, 1975, 1976.
Some might consider Gerd Müller to have been lucky for being part of the great West Germany and Bayern Munich teams that were among the best of all time; but Der Bomber himself was one of the best strikers to ever play football.
He scored 722 goals in just 778 appearances.
In 1970, after a successful season with Bayern, Müller scored 10 goals at the World Cup for West Germany — and he won the Golden Boot as top goalscorer.
This performances saw him win the 1970 Ballon d’Or.
Four years later, Müller scored 4 goals at the 1974 World Cup — including the winning goal in the final.
The legendary Bayern Munich team of the 70s won three consecutive European Cups in 1974, 1975 and 1976.
3. Franz Beckenbauer
World Cup: 1974
Ballon d’Or: 1972, 1976
Champions League: 1974, 1975, 1976.
Although it was Müller who was firing in the goals for both Bayern Munich and West Germany in the 70s, Franz Beckenbauer was the real star of those teams.
Which is why he won the Ballon d’Or twice.
Der Kaiser is one of just 10 players throughout history who have ever won more than one Ballon d’Or, and the only defender to have won it twice.
Furthermore, Beckenbauer is one of the only three players in football history that have won the FIFA World Cup as a player and as a manager.
He was the first ever captain to lift the World Cup and European Championship at international level and the European Cup at club level.
4. Paolo Rossi
World Cup: 1982
Ballon d’Or: 1982
Champions League: 1985
Paulo Rossi helped Italy defy the odds to win the World Cup in 1982 by scoring 6 goals — all of which came in the knockout rounds.
He had a quiet tournament until the quarter-final stage, where he scored a hat-trick against Brazil and went on to net a brace in the semi finals against Poland.
Rossi then scored in the final, opening the scoring against West Germany with a header.
He won the Golden Ball and Golden Boot in that tournament as well.
That same year, he was awarded the Ballon d’Or.
Moreso, Rossi won the European Cup in 1985 with Juventus, scoring 5 goals during the tournament.
5. Zinedine Zidane
World Cup: 1998
Ballon d’Or: 1998
Champions League: 2002
Zinedine Zidane was instrumental as France won the FIFA World Cup on home soil in 1998, he even scored 2 goals in the final.
His efforts also earned him the Ballon d’Or that year.
Then in 2002, Zidane helped Real Madrid win the Champions League, again scoring in the final — with a thunderous volley against Bayern Leverkusen.
That volley is regarded as one of the greatest goals in football history.
Furthermore, Zizou was equally successful in his coaching career as he guided Real Madrid to three straight Champions League crowns.
6. Rivaldo
World Cup: 2002
Ballon d’Or: 1999
Champions League: 2003
Rivaldo was at the peak of his game during his time at Barcelona and deservedly won the Ballon d’Or in 1999.
Furthermore, he was integral as Brazil won the World Cup in 2002 — scoring 5 goals in 7 matches.
Rivaldo won the Champions League with AC Milan in 2003.
7. Ronaldinho
World Cup: 2002
Ballon d’Or: 2005
Champions League: 2006
Ronaldinho burst on to the scene with his performances at the 2002 World Cup, winning the title with Brazil.
After the tournament, he earned himself a big move to Barcelona that saw him take his game to the next level.
He pipped Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard to win the Ballon d’Or in 2005.
The following year, Ronaldinho was part of the Barcelona team that defeated Arsenal in the 2006 Champions League final.
8. Kaka
World Cup: 2002
Ballon d’Or: 2007
Champions League: 2007
The third Brazilian on this list and as a result of the country’s 2002 FIFA World Cup triumph.
Kaka is lucky to be on this list having only played 25 minutes during Brazil’s 2002 World Cup win. He had only just turned 20 years old and appeared in one match as a substitute.
He secured a transfer to AC Milan afterwards and became the best player in the world.
Kaka won the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or in 2007.
9. Lionel Messi
World Cup: 2022
Ballon d’Or: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021.
Champions League: 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015.
Lionel Messi seems to have finally settled the G.O.A.T debate by winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
He had earlier won several Champions League and Ballon d’Or titles.
The likes of Pele, Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldo de Lima, Johan Cruyff, Alfredo Di Stefano et al can all claim to be the greatest of all time; but all of them fall short of this football’s most exclusive and decorated list of players that have won the “Big Three”.
