Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi: A Look at Who Would Have Won Ballon d’Or if the Two Didn’t Exist

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are undoubtedly two of the best players to ever grace a football pitch. Only a few people have managed to dominate a particular sport for more than 15 years, with Messi and Ronaldo competing for top honours repeatedly.

The height of their rivalry was during their days in the Spanish La Liga, where the Ballon d'Or award, save for 2018, oscillated between the two players.

Such rivalries are good for the game, but for other great players in their generation, it is not the case, as their performances are always masked by the big two. Many of them have been unlucky not to win the most lucrative individual award during the height of Messi's and Ronaldo's superpowers despite putting in exemplary performances themselves.

Zlatan Ibrahimović, Thierry Henry and Neymar among the 10 greatest players never to win coveted Ballon d'Or

Football

Sports Brief takes a look at who might have won the Ballon d'Or in a separate universe in which Messi and Ronaldo did not exist.

2008 - Fernando Torres

Ronaldo improved on his second-place finish in 2007 to win his first title after a dominant season with Manchester United. Messi similarly improved from third place to second place, with Fernando Torres having to settle for third.

2009 - Xavi

The vote was won by Messi, with Ronaldo coming in second. Barcelona's midfield maestro came in third, 63 points off the second place.

2010 - Andres Iniesta

Xavi's midfield partner would also have a Ballon d'Or in a different universe. However, the major issue of the 2010 vote was the snubbing of Wesley Sneijder for the top three places, let alone being the winner in what many often refer to as one of the biggest Ballon d'Or robberies in history.

2011 - Xavi

Xavi finished third again behind Messi and Ronaldo. This was Messi's third consecutive Ballon d'Or. Xavi got 9.23% of the vote, with Messi winning it with more than 47%.

2012 - Andres Iniesta

It seems like it was Messi's teammates who always bore the brunt of the Argentine's genius. It is difficult to argue with 2012's vote, as Messi had just scored a whopping 91 goals in a single calendar year, as captured by Bleacher Report.

2013 - Franck Ribery

Another strong candidate for the Ballon d'Or 'robberies'. Ribery finished third behind Ronaldo and Messi despite guiding Bayern Munich to a treble win.

2014 - Manuel Neuer

This would have been historic, given that Neuer would have become the second goalkeeper to win the award after Lev Yashin. He had just starred at the World Cup in Brazil, but he couldn't displace Ronaldo and Messi at the top.

2015 - Neymar

Neymar has long been regarded as the best player after Messi and Ronaldo. He finished third in the 2015 vote after winning the Champions League with Barcelona.

2016 - Antoine Griezmann

Griezmann was extremely unlucky to be on the losing side of two major finals. He first lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid before going down to Portugal in the Euro finals - both Cristiano Ronaldo's teams.

2017 - Neymar

Now at PSG, Neymar finished third behind Ronaldo and Messi. Ronaldo tied Messi's five Ballon d'Or records, the last title he has won to date.

2018 - Luka Modric

Forget a separate universe; this actually did happen. Modric became the first person to break the Ronaldo-Messi duopoly after winning the Champions League and inspiring Croatia to the World Cup finals. Messi did not even finish in the top three, with Ronaldo and Griezmann completing the podium spots.

2019 - Virgil Van Dijk

This would also have been historic, given that Fabio Cannavaro was the last defender to win the award. However, Messi still managed to edge him out, but the Dutch defender finished a place ahead of Ronaldo.

2020

2021 - Robert Lewandowski

As if the 2020 heartbreak was not enough, Lewandowski had to sit and watch Messi beat him to the 2021 vote after he won the Copa America with Argentina - his first senior international trophy. Chelsea's Jorginho finished third.

2022 - Karim Benzema

This also happened after Benzema led a beautiful Los Blancos charge to complete a domestic double. Messi did not even feature among the final nominees, with Sadio Mane and Kevin De Bruyne finishing in second and third places.

2023 - Erling Haaland

Well, after winning the treble and scoring numerous goals, you might think that the Ballon d'Or will be yours for the taking, right?

Erling Haaland had to sit and watch as Messi rose to pick up the eighth such award of his career for his heroics at the Qatar World Cup.