The year 2008, when Cristiano Ronaldo won his first Ballon d'Or, marked the beginning of his and Lionel Messi's domination in football. With the annual award ceremony around the corner, we took a look at the players who could have won the award if the superstar pair did not exist!
From 2008 to 2021, Ronaldo and Messi dominated the award, winning it every year except in 2018, when Luka Modric grabbed the acclaimed prize.
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Messi holds the record for being the player with the most Ballon d'Or awards, triumphing seven times, while his Portuguese rival is right behind him with five.
Other icons of the beautiful game Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten are joint third on the all-time list, having been awarded the prize on three occasions each.
The most Ballon d'Or in football historyWinner list1/ World Champions Lionel Messi 7,t2/Cristiano Ronaldo 5, T3/Michelle Platini 3, TBest player of all time leo messi 8, number ballon d'or loading Best wishes for leo messi...? pic.twitter.com/bgGFyzMmb6
— L / M / 10 (@gameacademy19) September 7, 2023
But what if things had turned out differently, and two of arguably the greatest players ever to have graced the football pitch never came into existence? The picture would be a very different one.
To find out who the various winners would have been were it not for the indomitable duo of Ronaldo and Messi, we looked at the runners-up each year since 2008, and put together a list of players who were unfortunate enough to be great during a time when greatness simply was not enough.
For instance, Barcelona icons Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, and Neymar would all have two Ballon d'Or awards to their names, while Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk would have won the sport's most acclaimed individual accolade in 2019 after playing a pivotal role in the club's first UEFA Champions League triumph in 14 years.
Click through the gallery below to see the players who would have won the award were it not for Messi and Ronaldo between 2008 and 2021!
*Note: The years not included in this list were 2018, when Modric won the award, and 2020, when the ceremony was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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