2005 Ballon d'Or
The 2005 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries, was delivered to the Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho on 28 November 2005. On 24 October 2005, 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-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, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales and Yugoslavia. Each picked a first, second, third, fourth and fifth choice.
Ronaldinho was the third Brazilian to win the award after Rivaldo and Ronaldo. Petr Čech was the top ranked goalkeeper in the list, at 14th place. Paolo Maldini was the best ranked defender, at sixth, while Thierry Henry was the top-ranked forward, at fourth place.
Rankings
Voted players
Non-voted players
The following 26 men were originally in contention for the 2005 Ballon d’Or, but did not receive any votes:| Player | Nationality | Club |
| David Beckham |  Real Madrid | |
| Mauro Camoranesi |  Juventus | |
| Fabio Cannavaro | Juventus | |
| Grégory Coupet |  Lyon | |
| Cris | Lyon | |
| Deco | Barcelona | |
| Dida | Milan | |
| Emerson | Juventus | |
| Luís Figo | Real Madrid / Internazionale | |
| Diego Forlán | Villarreal | |
| Roy Makaay |  Bayern Munich | |
| Michael Owen | Real Madrid /  Newcastle United | |
| Park Ji-sung |  PSV / Manchester United | |
| Andrea Pirlo | Milan | |
| Raúl | Real Madrid | |
| Arjen Robben | Chelsea | |
| Roberto Carlos | Real Madrid | |
| Robinho | Real Madrid | |
| Ronaldo | Real Madrid | |
| Wayne Rooney | Manchester United | |
| Lilian Thuram | Barcelona | |
| David Trezeguet | Juventus | |
| Mark van Bommel | PSV / Barcelona | |
| Ruud van Nistelrooy | Manchester United | |
| Patrick Vieira | Arsenal / Juventus | |
| Xavi | Barcelona |