5 controversial Ballon d'Or winners in recent years

The highly coveted Ballon d'Or accolade
The highly coveted Ballon d'Or accolade

The Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual honor in world football which is given to the best player on the planet every year by French Magazine, France Football. Among many contenders who are all nominated to fight for the award, the best is chosen on the basis of votes.

However, there have been times when one contender has performed extremely well, keeping goals and assists in consideration, while another contender has won more numbers of major trophies. In such cases, the decision has often resulted in controversies as different player fan-bases quarrel into each other backing their player of being the most deserving to win the award.

Therefore, we take a look at five Ballon d'Or winners who were deemed to be undeserving, and hence, gave rise to many controversies. They are as follows:



#5 Pavel Nedved (2003)

Pavel Nedved made history by winning the Ballon d'Or while representing Juventus in 2003 but many did not agree he was worth the prize
Pavel Nedved made history by winning the Ballon d'Or while representing Juventus in 2003 but many did not agree he was worth the prize

The Czech Republic star had a successful year in 2003 where he retained the Italian title and reached the Champions League final with Juventus. Paolo Maldini, who won the Champions League that year, the fourth of his career, was edged to the third place.

Thierry Henry who had a terrific run that year was denied the award and given the second place. The Frenchman had 42 goals and 26 assists in the whole calendar year, which were huge numbers before the arrival of Messi and Ronaldo. Zinedine Zidane, the Real Madrid and France midfielder who won Fifa's world player of the year award that year, finished fifth.

This gave rise to a controversial win for Nedved as there were many who believed that Thierry Henry and Paolo Maldini's stellar performances made them more deserving of the honor.

#4 Fabio Cannavaro (2006)

Fabio Cannavaro's Ballon d'Or triumph in 2006 also gave birth controversy among football lovers all over the world
Fabio Cannavaro's Ballon d'Or triumph in 2006 also gave birth controversy among football lovers all over the world

The Italian defender played a crucial part in his national team which won the 2006 World Cup following a shootout victory against France. He won the Ballon d'Or award in the same year while his countryman Gianluigi Buffon finished in the second position next to him.

The defender may have inspired his team to a triumph, but Gianluigi Buffon also gave an applauding performance for the Azzurri, making him equally deserving of the honor.

Keeping in mind that the Ballon d'Or is given to the player with the best individual performance, Ronaldinho was highly deserving of the award. In 2006, he won the Champions League and the La Liga with Barcelona delivering such an incredible performance throughout the season that he was the talk of the night after every crucial game.

#3 Lionel Messi (2010)

Lionel Messi for FC Barcelona in 2010
Lionel Messi for FC Barcelona in 2010

It's hard to argue against anything Leo Messi is winning these days, but back in 2010, there was a lot of discontentment when the Argentinian lifted the award. Messi scored 47 goals in 53 games through the course of the season to help Barcelona win the league title, but that was all that the Blaugrana won that term.

On the other hand, Wesley Sneijder was the undisputed king at Inter Milan who won the Italian League, the Domestic cup and the Champions League all in one season. He also pulled a pretty average squad of Netherlands to the World Cup final. Despite an outstanding run, Sneijder didn’t even feature in the top three of the list, with an all La Masia line-up occupying the podium.

The Argentine also preceded his teammate, Andres Iniesta who gave a magnificent performance in the World Cup and scored a decisive goal in the final which led to Spain becoming the world champions.

#2 Cristiano Ronaldo (2013)

Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or on a controversial note in 2013
Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or on a controversial note in 2013

The Portuguese ace was handed the honor in 2013 preceding his eternal rival Lionel Messi who finished second followed by Frank Ribery who was edged to the third place. Ronaldo had an incredible goalscoring record compared to the other two but that was his all he had in that year.

The honor could have been given to Frank Ribery who was Bayern Munich's main man as he gave an excellent performance throughout the year leading them to the glorious treble. The Argentinian talisman who came second scored many goals and helped Barcelona win the domestic league with a record-tying 100 points.

The Golden Boot is given to the best goalscorer in Europe, but that is not why the Ballon d'Or is given which made Ribery and Messi more deserving of the honor than Cristiano Ronaldo.

#1 Luka Modric (2018)

Luka Modric was the heartbeat of Croatia in the World Cup
Luka Modric was the heartbeat of Croatia in the World Cup

Luka Modric had a magnificent run in 2018, playing an influential role to help Real Madrid lift their third consecutive Champions League in four years. He also gave an admirable performance in the World Cup, dragging an underdog Croatia to the final.

Although it looks like Luka Modric's run was a carbon copy of Sneijder's run in 2010 who was denied the Ballon d'Or, it is not. The Dutch talisman won the glorious treble with Inter Milan and helped Netherlands reach the World Cup final. None of the other candidates competing for the honor in that year came even close to what Sneijder had achieved, which was not the case for the Croatian midfielder in 2018.

Modric's club-side teammate Raphael Varane won both the Champions League and the World Cup pushing himself one step ahead of the midfielder. Mbappe who featured third in the Ballon d'Or ranking gave a stellar performance for World Cup winner France and won the best young player award.

Lionel Messi inspired Barcelona to another La Liga and Copa del Rey double. He had 41 goals and 20 assists in 45 appearances for the Blaugrana which made his 61 goal involvements outstrip anyone else in Europe's top five leagues.

Cristiano Ronaldo was pushed to second place by the Croatian. The Portuguese ace was the Champions League highest goalscorer and lifted the trophy for the fifth time in his career.

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Edited by Jidonu Mauyon