| 2006 Ballon d'Or | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 2006 Ballon d'Or winnerFabio Cannavaro in 2017 | ||||
| Date | 27 November 2006 (2006-11-27) | |||
| Location | Paris, France | |||
| Country | France | |||
| Presented by | France Football | |||
| Highlights | ||||
| Won by |  Fabio Cannavaro (1st award) | |||
| Website | www | |||
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The2006 Ballon d'Or, given to the bestfootball player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists fromUEFA member countries, was awarded to the Italian defenderFabio Cannavaro on 27 November 2006.[1] On 16 October 2006, was announced the shortlist of 50 male players compiled by a group of experts fromFrance Football.[2] 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).[3]
Fabio Cannavaro is the most recent defender to have won the award as well as the last Italian player to have won it as of2025.
The following 24 players were originally in contention for the 2006 Ballon d’Or, but did not receive any votes:
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| Ballon d'Or (1956–1994) (European only) |
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| Ballon d'Or (1995–2009) | |
| FIFA Ballon d'Or (2010–2015) | |
| Ballon d'Or (2016–present) | |
