Ballon d'Or: Top 10 Players With the Most Points as Ronaldo Beats Messi

• Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two of the most successful footballers
• The duo has won the Ballon d'Or award a record 12 times between them
• Messi is said to be in line to win the award for the eighth time later in October

The Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual award in football.

The gong is awarded to the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous year, based on voting by football journalists.

Inter Miami ace Lionel Messi and Al-Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo are the most successful Ballon d'Or players.

The duo has won the award on 12 occasions collectively, with Messi currently the record-holder with seven of them.

The Barcelona legend is in line to win his eighth Ballon d'Or this year after, with reports claiming he is set to beat Manchester City striker, Erling Haaland, to the crown.

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According to SPORT, Messi will be handed the most prestigious of individual accolades at a glitzy ceremony hosted by France Football in Paris later this month.

Should the Argentine pick the accolade, he will move clear of Ronaldo, who has bagged the award on five occasions.

Such an occurrence could also see Messi topple Ronaldo as the player with the most Ballon d'Or points in history.

Sports Brief takes a look at the top 10 footballers with the most points in the award.

10. Kaka - 550 points

The Brazilian legend racked up 550 points in the award during his illustrious career.

Kaka won the 2007 edition of the Ballon d'Or, way before Messi and Ronaldo entered the fray.

9. Michel Platini - 551 points

The French legend won the award on three occasions between 1983 and 1985.

Platini is the only French player who has won the accolade multiple times.

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8. Franz Beckenbauer - 576 points

Beckenbauer won the Ballon d'Or twice in 1972 and 1976.

He played a central role in helping Germany win the World Cup in 1974.

7. Ronaldo - 600 points

Despite an injury-plagued career, the Brazil icon still managed to bag two Ballon d’Or awards in 1997 and 2002.

While he did not have a very successful career at the club level, his journey with the Samba Boys was an illustrious one, as he won two World Cups with them.

6. Robert Lewandowski - 672 points

The Polish striker is one of only two players in this list who has never won the Ballon d'Or award.

Despite his impressive career, especially with Bayern Munich, Lewandowski has always fallen short in his bid to cart home the crown.

5. Virgil van Dijk - 679 points

GiveMeSports reports that the Liverpool defender is the only other player who has never won the award.

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The Dutchman came close to winning it in 2019.

4. Zinedine Zidane - 715 points

The French legend won the Ballon d'Or in 1999, a year after helping France lift the 1998 World Cup.

Zidane finished third in the Ballon d'Or rankings in 1997.

3. Luka Modric - 837 points

The midfield maestro won the Ballon d'Or in 2018 to break the long-standing Messi-Ronaldo dominance.

Modric was crowned the winner of the title after helping Croatia finish as runners-up in the 2018 World Cup.

2. Lionel Messi - 3,574 points

Despite having a record seven Ballon d'Or awards to his name, Messi ranks second in terms of points garnered in the history of the accolade.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo - 3,781 points

And finally, on this list is Cristiano Ronaldo.

The veteran forward has won the award five times, with his first coming in 2008 at Manchester United and has finished runners-up six times.

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Messi vs Ronaldo: Drogba reveals his GOAT

Sports Brief also reported on an Ivorian legend's assessment, along with several other elite footballers, who have weighed in on the perennially divisive Ronaldo versus Messi debate.

In his opinion, Didier Drogba opted for Ronaldo as the greatest of all time when asked to pick between the two superstar players, asserting that this was also 'an established fact.'