1996 Ballon d'Or

{{Short description|Annual association football award event in France}}

{{Infobox award

| name = 1996 Ballon d'Or

| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0404-025, SG Dynamo Dresden, Matthias Sammer.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = 1996 Ballon d'Or winner Matthias Sammer in 1990

| date = 24 December 1996

| location =

| presenter = France Football

| host =

| website = {{URL|https://www.francefootball.fr/ballon-d-or/|2=francefootball.fr/ballon-d-or}}

| award1_type = Ballon d'Or

| award1_winner =

| award2_type =

| award2_winner =

| award3_type =

| award3_winner =

| award4_type =

| award4_winner =

| award5_type =

| award5_winner =

| previous = 1995

| main = Ballon d'Or

| next = 1997

}}

The 1996 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 Matthias Sammer on 24 December 1996.{{Cite web

| url = https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/europa-poy96.html

| title = European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") 1996

| first = José Luis

| last = Pierrend

| publisher = RSSSF

| date = 26 March 2005

| accessdate = 12 November 2013

| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20130314042324/http://rsssf.com/miscellaneous/europa-poy96.html| archivedate= 14 March 2013 | url-status= live}}