At the end of every professional footballing year, the French news magazine France Football in association with many other journalists, coaches, and analysts all around the world announces the best player in the world and awards them with the prestigious Balon d’Or award.
The player is selected after a rigorous round of voting done by the above-mentioned juries. The player with the maximum number of votes is then regarded as the best performer in the past year and is entitled to be the best player of the season.
The Balon d’Or currently sits on the shelf of Lionel Messi, who is also the record holder for the most Balon d’Or awards. Messi has won the award a total of 7 times since his first in 2009. He has also won the award four times in a row showcasing complete domination.
Another great player who has won the Balon d’Or 5 times is none other than Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal. He is one of the most successful players of all time and also holds the record for the most number of nominations for the Balon d’Or award. Ronaldo has been nominated for the award a total of 17 times.
When we talk about the Balon d’Or award winners, the last 13 years were completely dominated by these two exceptionally talented players. The only other winner that we get to see in these thirteen long years is Luca Modric in 2018. However, there were many other players who came in at 2nd or 3rd place a number of times but couldn’t win against Messi and Ronaldo. Let us know more about 5 players who deserved Balon d’Or ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
5. Neymar
It is no surprise to see Neymar on this list. Neymar’s contribution to the game and his team is too huge to neglect him on this list. Neymar is considered one of the best players of the last decade. But the player has been gaslighted by this award completely as he has never been awarded the Balon d’Or yet.
Neymar has one of the most amazing skill sets and was on par with Lionel Messi even when they shared the same home ground. Neymar however moved to a new team in a completely new region.
The Brazillian has been nominated for the Balon d’Or award a total of 9 times and finished 3rd in 2015 and 2017. Unfortunately, 2015 was Lionel Messi’s year and in 2017 Cristiano Ronaldo was just unstoppable. Neymar performed extremely well in the 2015 and 2016 seasons as he scored 39 goals and 31 goals respectively in each season and was worthy of a Balon d’Or.
4. Manuel Neuer
Manuel Neuer is without a doubt one of the finest goalkeepers of the decade and the best Germany had ever seen. Manuel currently plays for Bayern Munich and has appeared in 310 matches for them since his transfer to the club in 2011 from Schalke 04.
Manuel Neuer also plays as a goalkeeper for the German national football team and has appeared in 113 international matches for his country. Neuer was awarded the Golden Glove for his exceptional goalkeeping in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The same year saw his best run for the Balon d’Or as he finished in 3rd place with the same amount of votes as Lionel Messi. However, the winner with the most votes was Cristiano Ronaldo. Neuer’s win would have marked history as there has been only one goalkeeper in the history of Balon d’Or to have lifted the award, Lev Yashin.
3. Xavi
The present-day manager of Barcelona, Xavi spent 17 years of his senior career playing for the club as an attacking midfielder. He appeared in 767 matches for Barcelona and scored a total of 85 goals in the run.
Xavi is regarded as one of the best midfielders of all time and has won 8 La Liga titles. He is one of the best contenders for the Balon d’Or awards from 2009-2011 as he finished in third place for the award for all three years. However, all the three were crowned by his teammate Lionel Messi.
2. Franck Ribery
The 2013 football season saw a new name emerging in the Balon d’Or top 3 rankings. This was the first time in 5 years that someone from a club other than Barcelona and Real Madrid made it to the top 3 for the award.
Not only did Franck end up at the third position for the award, but also won the Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich. In his 39 matches for Bayern Munich, he tallied a total of 16 goals. It was a very close call for his victory on Balon d’Or as the voter difference was very minuscule with Ronaldo and Messi who placed 1st and 2nd respectively that year.
1. Robert Lewandowski
Yet another German player on the list, Robert Lewandowski is an explosive striker who scores goals indiscriminately. He was recently signed by Barcelona for his stunning performance with Bayern Munich in the previous season.
He placed 2nd on the Balon d’Or rankings for the 2021 season. Lewandowski scored a total of 48 goals in 40 games to get to this position. He continued the performance the previous season with 50 goals in 46 appearances for Bayern Munich and is one of the strongest contenders for the 2022 Balon d’Or award.
