OTD 19 years ago, Luis Figo was crowned the 2000 Ballon d’Or winner

The 2000 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 Luís Figo on 19 December 2000.

Figo was the second Portuguese player to win the award after Eusébio (1965). He was also the third Real Madrid player to win the trophy after Alfredo Di Stéfano (1957, 1959) and Raymond Kopa (1958).

Rankings of that year's Ballon d'Or

1 Luís Figo

2 Zinedine Zidane

3 Andriy Shevchenko

4 Thierry Henry

5 Alessandro Nesta

6 Rivaldo

7 Gabriel Batistuta

8 Gaizka Mendieta

9 Raul

10 Paolo Maldini & David Beckham