In a period of football dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, recent years have been particularly prevalent for big names missing out on the Ballon d’Or – however, there are some surprising names from history who also missed out on the award.
Who is the one player you think deserves the Balon d’or the most and ended up not getting the award?
Share your thoughts on this topic.
Scoring the winning goal in a World Cup final has to be near the top of any footballer’s wishlist, and so Andres Iniesta probably isn’t that bothered that he was beaten into second place in the Ballon d’Or voting by Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi in 2010, and then finished third to Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo two years later.
Still, it would be nice to see one of the modern game’s great midfielders honoured with the prize, although he might still think he’s got a chance to win it.
Paolo Maldini
Italian legend Paolo Maldini never won the Ballon d’Or. Maldini is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders in football history. He spent his entire club career with AC Milan, where he achieved numerous domestic and international titles, including multiple Serie A titles and UEFA Champions League titles. Despite his consistent excellence and status as a legendary defender, Maldini never won the Ballon d’Or during his career.
902 games
126 caps
40 goals
7 Serie A
5 Champions League
5 Supercoppa Italiana
4 Super Cup
2 Intercontinental Cup
1 Club World Cup
1 Coppa Italia
Thierry Henry
The French striker enjoyed a highly successful career with Arsenal and Barcelona. He was a prolific goal scorer and one of the greatest strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premier League history but never won the Ballon d’Or.
He was named by Arsenal as the club’s greatest ever player. Henry was runner-up for both the Ballon d’Or in 2003 and the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004. He was named the FWA Footballer of the Year a record three times, the PFA Players’ Player of the Year a joint-record two times, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times. He was also included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI once and the UEFA Team of the Year five times. In 2004, Henry was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players.
The one player has to be Xavi Hernandez!!
Three consecutive third places between 2008 and 2010 was the best that Barcelona and Spain’s midfield metronome Xavi could do, as he proved to be the mastermind behind the successes of club and country over the period and beyond. Sadly he never got the due recognition he deserved.
