The 2006 Ballon d'Or (), given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries, was awarded to the Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro on 27 November 2006.
Fabio Cannavaro is the most recent defender to have won the award as well as the last Italian player to have won it as of 2026.
Rankings On 16 October 2006, was announced the shortlist of 50 male players compiled by a group of experts from France Football.
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). Voted players Rank Player Nationality Club(s) Total Votes by place Votes 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th1stFabio Cannavaro Juventus Real Madrid173201255 -422ndGianluigi Buffon Juventus 124146822323rdThierry Henry Arsenal121615564364thRonaldinho Barcelona73256105285thZinedine Zidane Real Madrid7164534226thSamuel Eto'o Barcelona6723966267thMiroslav Klose Werder Bremen29 -1445148thDidier Drogba Chelsea25 -1352119thAndrea Pirlo AC Milan17 -2122710thJens Lehmann Arsenal1311 -2 -411thDeco Barcelona11 - -2215Kaká AC Milan11 - -124713thFranck Ribéry Marseille9 -1 - -5614thGennaro Gattuso AC Milan51 - - - -1Patrick Vieira Juventus Inter Milan5 -1 - -19Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United5 - -1 -2317thFrank Lampard Chelsea3 - -1 - -1Lukas Podolski 1. FC Köln Bayern Munich3 - -1 - -1Carles Puyol Barcelona3 - - - -3320thJuninho Lyon2 - - -1 -1Lionel Messi Barcelona2 - - -1 -1Luca Toni Fiorentina2 - - -1 -1John Terry Chelsea2 - - - -22Gianluca Zambrotta Juventus Barcelona2 - - - -2225thPhilipp Lahm Bayern Munich1 - - - -11David Villa Valencia1 - - - -11
Non-voted players The following 24 players were originally in contention for the 2006 Ballon d’Or, but did not receive any votes: Player Nationality Club(s)Michael Ballack Bayern Munich ChelseaTim Cahill EvertonJoe Cole ChelseaGrégory Coupet LyonCris LyonMahamadou Diarra Real MadridMichael Essien ChelseaCesc Fàbregas ArsenalWilliam Gallas Chelsea ArsenalSteven Gerrard LiverpoolLudovic Giuly BarcelonaFabio Grosso Palermo Inter MilanClaude Makélélé ChelseaFlorent Malouda LyonÉdison Méndez LDU Quito PSV EindhovenJuan Román Riquelme VillarrealArjen Robben ChelseaWayne Rooney Manchester UnitedWilly Sagnol Bayern MunichBastian Schweinsteiger Bayern MunichAndriy Shevchenko AC Milan ChelseaLilian Thuram Juventus BarcelonaTiago LyonFernando Torres Atlético Madrid
References
External links France Football Official website Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation - "Ballon d'Or" 2006 voting results