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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated global football since 2008. Only one Ballon d’Or has remained unclaimed by the pair, who have a combined total of 12 wins.
The dominance of the two all-time greats has largely reduced the competition to a two-horse race. But what if the couple had never put on a pair of boots and walked onto a professional football field? What players have been denied the coveted prize as a consequence of the unreachable standards established by the game’s two greats?
1. 2008 – Fernando Torres
Ronaldo, then 23, won his first trophy for his great performances at Manchester United, ushering in the period of his and Messi’s supremacy.
With Messi second, Torres in third would have won the Ballon d’Or, making him Liverpool’s first winner since Michael Owen in 2001.
2. 2009 – Xavi
The next year, the top two positions switched places, and Messi became the first player to ever win the award. Xavi, a teammate of Messi’s at Barcelona, finished in third place. His commanding play in the middle of the field would have earned him the victory had it not been for Messi.
3. 2010 – Andres Iniesta
Messi won for the second time, but Ronaldo fell out of the top three. Another midfielder from Barcelona would have won the trophy for the second year in a row. This time, it would have been Iniesta instead of his teammate Xavi, who would have been the current holder.
4. 2011 – Xavi
Messi’s dominance kept going, and he won for the third year in a row. In the meanwhile, Ronaldo moved back up to the second position. In our universe, third-placed Xavi would have won the prize again, making it the second time the two Barcelona midfielders have won the award.
5. 2013 – Franck Ribery
A Ronaldo Ballon d’Or fightback against Messi, who placed second, saw him win the award for the first time as a Real Madrid player.
Ribery, who plays for Bayern Munich, had the potential to become the first French player to win the award since Zinedine Zidane in 1998. Zidane was the last French player to take home the trophy. A year that was the subject of great discussion, with many people holding the opinion that Ribery should have been the one to take home the trophy despite the presence of the top two candidates.
6. 2014 – Manuel Neuer
Bayern Munich’s Neuer would have been third if Ronaldo and Messi hadn’t won in successive years. The German goalkeeper would have been just the second to win the cup, after Lev Yashin in 1963.
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