We revisit the ρ-meson longitudinal leading-twist distribution amplitude (DA) φ 2;ρ by using the QCD sum rules approach within the background field theory. To improve the accuracy of the sum rules for its moments ξ n;ρ , we include the next-to-leading order QCD correction to the perturbative part and keep all non-perturbative condensates up to dimension-six consistently within the background field theory. The first two moments read ξ 2;ρ |1GeV = 0.241(28) and ξ 4;ρ |1GeV = 0.109(10), indicating a double humped behavior for φ 2;ρ at small energy scale. As an application, we apply them to the B → ρ transition form factors within the QCD light-cone sum rules, which are key components for the decay width Γ(B → ρℓν ℓ ). To compare with the world-average of Γ(B → ρℓν ℓ ) issued by Particle Data Group, we predict |V ub | = 3.19 +0.65 −0.62 , which agrees with the BABAR and Omnès parameterization prediction within errors.