Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have formed the most exciting rivalry in recent decades in the football world. They both dominate every awards ceremony and the Golden Ball is no exception with a total of 13 out of 15 awards recently allocated to the duo.
Luka Modric and Karim Benzema are the ones who broke this dominance. In 2018, the Croatian international ended his 10-year monopoly, while the Real Madrid striker was also crowned thanks to his brilliance in the 2021/22 season.
Now, Messi is the person who has won the most titles in history and Ronaldo is still second on the list with 5 times. The question is which character would have won the Golden Ball if the aforementioned duo were not their contemporaries?
2008: Fernando Torres
The retired Liverpool striker ranked third in the poll with 179 points. Entering the 2007/08 Champions League semi-finals, Torres would have had the privilege of raising this award without the presence of top opponents after finishing behind La Pulga (281) and CR7 (446).
2009 and 2011: Xavi Hernandez
The current Barcelona coach finished third in the poll both years. In 2009, Xavi won 170 points , far less than the 473 of his teammate at Barca. In second place is Cristiano Ronaldo (233). In 2011, similar rankings were repeated.
2010 and 2012: Andres Iniesta
The brain of the Spanish Home Team at the 2010 World Cup came very close to winning the Golden Ball that year. Some time later, he tried to avoid controversy when asked about the gala: “No problem, we are happy about it. Leo won his second Golden Ball”.
The competition became uneven in 2012. Iniesta garnered 10.91% of the votes compared to Ronaldo’s 23.68% and Messi’s 41.60%.
2013: Franck Ribery
The talented winger from France played for Bayern Munich for 12 seasons and during his time here, he made it to the final nomination list after winning the 2012/13 Champions League. Ribery is third with 23.36%, while Messi (24.72%) is behind Cristiano (27.99%).
2014: Manuel Neuer
Never before has a goalkeeper been as close to touching the Golden Ball as that year. After Lev Yashin was the only goalkeeper to achieve this feat in 1963, Neuer deserved to be the second to be crowned. He won the world championship with Germany, won the Bundesliga and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League with Bayern Munich, but is far behind Cristiano Ronaldo (37.66%). Messi ranked second (15.76%) and the German goalkeeper ranked third (15.72%).
2015 and 2017: Neymar
During his time at Barcelona and PSG, Neymar had his chance at glory. He collected a meager 7.86% of the votes after winning the Champions League to finish in third place, behind CR7 (27.76%) and Messi (41.33%). Two years later, the Portuguese player swapped positions with La Pulga and Ney still ranked 3rd.
2016: Antoine Griezmann
The Atletico Madrid striker was one of the figures of the European runners-up (lost to Real Madrid on penalties) and his performance during the calendar year was highlighted during the ceremony with third place (12, 72%). Ronaldo won the award with 47.85% of the votes, ahead of Messi (20.30%).
2019: Virgil van Dijk
The Champions League winner with Liverpool could be the fourth defender in history to win the Golden Ball after Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich – 1972 and 1976), Matthias Sammer (Borussia Dortmund – 1996) and Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid – 2006) . His year was so good that he was only 7 points behind Messi, who finished with 24.36% of the vote. Third is Ronaldo (16.90%).
2021: Robert Lewandowski
This is one of the most discussed cases. He had a glorious 2020 with the Champions League title at Bayern Munich, but the Golden Ball was not held due to the pandemic. In the following season, Lewandowski ranked behind Messi, who had just won the Copa America, his first title with the Argentina team, with a gap of 33 points. Jorginho finished third.
2023: Erling Haaland
The all-time top scorer in a single Premier League season, Champions League winner and Gerd Muller award winner as the season’s top scorer, Haaland still has to finish behind Messi. The statement released a few days ago by Pep Guardiola has greater significance: “The Golden Ball should have two categories, one for Messi and another for the rest.” The Norwegian striker is second and Kylian Mbappe is in third place.
