Marco van Basten won the Ballon d'Or in 1988, Ruud Gullit finished second and Frank Rijkaard finished third.

This was the only time the Top 3 in the Ballon d'Or rankings were all from the same country (Netherlands) and club (AC Milan).

Gullit had won it the previous year- 1987 while Van Basten would go on to win two more- 1989 and 1992.