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Cristiano Ronaldo won his fifth Ballon d'Or in 2017 to level things up with Lionel Messi for the individual award. However, since then the Argentine has gone on to win the prestigious award three more times in the last six years and taken an 8-5 lead.
At the time, Ronaldo claimed that winning a sixth Ballon d’Or was not an 'obsession'. The Al-Nassr star added that he was already one of the best players in the history of the game and thus did not care. He was quoted by talkSPORT as saying:
"I said many times, winning a sixth Ballon d'Or is not an obsession. And I do not ask the question in these terms. I already know, in my heart of hearts, that I am one of the best players in history."
In an interview with RECORD earlier this year, Ronaldo claimed that the Ballon d'Or and The Best FIFA Football Awards had lost their value. He said:
"It's not to say that Messi didn't deserve it, or Haaland or even Mbappe… but the numbers are there and the numbers don't deceive. You have to consider the entire season. The numbers are facts. If you go back and see what happened at Manchester United and the national team, people actually considered me lost... But the truth is that I focused and had a great period at Al-Nassr, that's why I scored 54 goals."
Cristiano Ronaldo has been in the Middle East for over a year since moving to Al-Nassr in December 2022. He has scored 30 goals and provided 11 assists from 33 games in all competitions this season.
Lionel Messi also not interested in Ballon d'Or award
Lionel Messi also spoke in a similar manner about the Ballon d'Or award and claimed that he was not interested in individual honors anymore. He acknowledged that the FIFA World Cup was his biggest dream and that achieving it was important.
He said:
"Does the Ballon d’Or matter to me? No, it's no longer important to me. I've always said, the individual prizes are not what matters to me, but the collective ones are the most important. The most important prize at the moment is the World Cup, the greatest prize for me."
Lionel Messi was awarded the Ballon dOr in 2023 after his impressive performances at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He also helped PSG win Ligue1 in 2023, as well as helping Inter Miami win the Leagues Cup - which ended up getting him The Best FIFA Football Award too.
