Honestly, looking back at the 2007 Ballon d'Or feels like staring at a polaroid from the last day of summer. It was the final moment of "normalcy" in world football. Before the sport was swallowed whole by the two-headed monster of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, there was Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite. You know him as Kaká.
He was untouchable.
If you weren't watching AC Milan in the mid-2000s, it’s hard to describe how effortless he made everything look. He didn't just run; he glided. While other midfielders were busy hacking at shins or playing safe five-yard sideways passes, Kaká was busy destroying Manchester United at Old Trafford. That year, the 2007 Ballon d'Or wasn't really a debate. It was a coronation.
Why Kaká Was the Only Choice for the 2007 Ballon d'Or
The numbers from that season don't even tell the full story, though they are pretty wild. Kaká finished the 2006-07 Champions League campaign as the top scorer with 10 goals. Keep in mind, he wasn't a "number nine" or a poaching striker. He was a playmaker who just happened to be faster and more clinical than everyone else on the pitch.
Think about the semi-final against Manchester United. That's the one everyone remembers. In the first leg, he scored twice. One of them involved him basically making Patrice Evra and Gabriel Heinze run into each other like a scene from a cartoon. He was playing a different game. While Messi and Ronaldo were already being called the "future," Kaká was the absolute, undeniable present.
The voting reflected that. Kaká ended up with 444 points. Ronaldo had 277. Messi had 255. It wasn't even close. He won by a margin that felt like a statement: "I'm still the boss here."
The "Last Human" to Win It?
People often call Kaká the "last human" to win the award before the extraterrestrial era began. From 2008 until Luka Modrić broke the streak in 2018, no one else could get a look-in. But in 2007, Messi and Ronaldo were just the kids at the table.
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Cristiano was 22. Leo was only 20.
You could see it coming, though. Ronaldo had just helped Manchester United win the Premier League, scoring 17 goals and providing a glimpse of the goal-machine he would eventually become at Real Madrid. Messi, meanwhile, had already scored that "Maradona-esque" goal against Getafe. The world knew they were special. But they weren't Kaká. Not yet. Kaká had the poise of a veteran and the physical peak of an elite athlete. He was the perfect bridge between the old school of Zidane and Ronaldinho and the data-driven efficiency of the modern era.
The AC Milan Factor
You can't talk about the 2007 Ballon d'Or without talking about that AC Milan squad. It was basically a retirement home for geniuses. You had Maldini, Nesta, Seedorf, Pirlo, and Inzaghi. These guys were all at the tail end of their prime, or slightly past it, but they had "I’ve won everything" DNA.
Milan had been heartbroken in Istanbul in 2005. They were desperate for redemption.
In the 2007 final in Athens, they got it against Liverpool. Kaká didn't score in the final—Inzaghi grabbed a brace—but Kaká was the engine. He provided the assist for the second goal with a pass so perfectly weighted it felt like he’d calculated the grass friction in his head. That victory cemented his legacy. If Milan hadn't won that trophy, perhaps the voting would have been tighter, but Europe was his playground that year.
Beyond the Top Three
The rest of the list from that year is a trip down memory lane. Didier Drogba came in fourth. He was a beast for Chelsea back then, probably the most feared striker in England. Andrea Pirlo was fifth.
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Then you had names like Ruud van Nistelrooy, Zlatan Ibrahimović, and Cesc Fàbregas rounding out the top ten. It’s a legendary list. It represents a time when the talent was spread out across leagues. You had La Liga, the Premier League, and Serie A all fighting for dominance. These days, the power feels much more concentrated, but in 2007, the Italian league was still a heavyweight destination.
Misconceptions About the 2007 Result
Some people look back and think Ronaldo was robbed. They point to his Premier League dominance. Honestly? They're wrong.
While Ronaldo was great, he disappeared slightly in the biggest European moments that year compared to Kaká. The 2007 Ballon d'Or was always about the Champions League. Back then, France Football (the magazine that runs the award) put an massive premium on who performed when the lights were brightest in Europe. Kaká didn't just perform; he dominated. He outplayed Ronaldo head-to-head in the semi-finals. That usually settles the argument for the voters.
Another thing people forget: this was the first year the award went truly global. Before 2007, it was technically the "European Footballer of the Year" award, meaning only players at European clubs were eligible, and the voting was done by European journalists. In 2007, they opened it up to players from all over the world and expanded the jury. It made Kaká’s win feel like he was the undisputed king of the entire planet, not just the continent.
The Downfall and the Legacy
It’s almost sad what happened next. Within two years of winning the 2007 Ballon d'Or, Kaká moved to Real Madrid for a world-record fee, only for Cristiano Ronaldo to follow him a few weeks later and shatter that record.
Injuries started to eat away at Kaká’s explosive pace. That's the thing about his game; it relied on that sudden burst. Once his knees and groin started giving him trouble, he lost that half-yard. Without that half-yard, he was "just" a very good playmaker, not a god.
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But for that one calendar year, he was perfect.
If you want to understand why people still get emotional about Milan-era Kaká, go watch his goal against Celtic in the Round of 16. Or his header against United. He played with a joy that felt religious—fitting, given his famous "I Belong to Jesus" shirt he revealed after the final whistle in Athens.
What We Can Learn From the 2007 Results
Looking at the 2007 Ballon d'Or today gives us a blueprint for what a "perfect" individual season looks like. It requires three things:
- Absolute dominance in the Champions League.
- A signature "moment" against a direct rival (the Old Trafford masterclass).
- A lack of controversy—everyone just knew he was the best.
If you are a student of the game or just a fan who misses the era of "Joga Bonito," studying Kaká's 2007 season is essential. It shows that you don't need to score 50 goals a year to be the best in the world. You just need to be the most impactful player on the pitch when it matters most.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Historians:
- Watch the Tapes: Don't just look at stats. Go to YouTube and find the full-match highlights of Milan vs. Manchester United (2007). Watch how Kaká moves off the ball. It’s a masterclass in spatial awareness.
- Track the Shift: Compare the 2007 voting to 2008. You’ll see the exact moment the "output" (goals/assists) started to outweigh "influence" (gameplay/clutch moments) in the eyes of the voters.
- Appreciate the Context: Remember that Kaká did this in a Serie A that was still tactically the most difficult league in the world to score in.
The 2007 Ballon d'Or remains the final landmark of an era before the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry changed the sport's metrics forever. It was the year of the glide, the year of the grace, and the year Milan's number 22 stood alone at the top of the mountain. No one who saw it will ever forget it.