10 players who would have won the Ballon d'Or if not for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

2016: Antoine Griezmann

Germany v France - Semi Final: UEFA Euro 2016

Antoine Griezmann enjoyed a dream run in 2016. He won the Golden Boot as France lost the Euros in the final that year and Griezmann was adjudged the best player of the tournament. He had also just enjoyed his most prolific season for Atletico Madrid.

2017: Neymar

FC Barcelona v Paris Saint-Germain - UEFA Champions League Round of 16: Second Leg

In his final season at Barcelona, Neymar was a world beater who was knocking in goals for fun. The Brazilian scored 27 goals from 30 appearances in La Liga and was tearing defenders into smithereens all throughout the season. He made it to the FIFA FIFPRO World 11 but missed out on the Ballon d'Or.

2018: Luka Modric

Real Madrid CF v Rayo Vallecano de Madrid - La Liga

The only aberration in an otherwise perfect record shared by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Luka Modric finally broke the duopoly enjoyed by the legendary duo. Modric put on some wonderful performances for Real Madrid from the center of the park in the 2017-18 season.

He won the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid and also made it to the finals of the FIFA World Cup with Croatia and was arguably the best player for both club and country.

🏅 Luka Modric being named the best player in the world👀 Which players have impressed him in 2018✍ Eden Hazard to Real MadridWe spoke to Luis Figo! #Goal50 pic.twitter.com/FkHTo8Zyj2
— Goal (@goal) November 14, 2018

Expand Tweet

2019: Virgil van Dijk

Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool - UEFA Champions League Final

To be fair, Virgil van Dijk did just about everything he could have done to rob Lionel Messi off the Ballon d'Or in 2019. He had just won the UEFA Champions League with Liverpool and the Merseysiders had lost out on the Premier League title by a point.

There was simply no getting past the Dutchman as he started to look like a bargain even for £75 million. The last time a defender won the Ballon d'Or was way back in 2006 and that was Fabio Cannavaro.

Virgil van Dijk's game by numbers vs. Bayern Munich on this day in 2019:✅ Goal✅ Assist100% aerial duels won100% shot accuracy100% tackles won5 clearances3 interceptionsBest #UCL CB performance of the last decade. pic.twitter.com/GrMfHJ8ATX
— The Anfield Talk (@TheAnfieldTalk) March 13, 2021

Expand Tweet

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

Know More

Edited by Shambhu Ajith