For the past two decades, the battle for the Ballon d’Or – the top individual award in football – has been dominated by two names: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The two have shared a remarkable 13 crowns between them, after Messi claimed the trophy for a record-extending eighth time at Tuesday morning’s ceremony in Paris.
With Ronaldo now 38 years old and Messi 36, and with neither playing in Europe, this year is almost certainly the last time either player hoists the most precious and prestigious solo trophy.
It is the end of an era – but the future is bright.
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On the back of his World Cup heroics in Qatar last year, where Messi scored seven times including twice in the final as he captained Argentina to glory, the diminutive genius now leads his great rival eight Ballon d’Or trophies to five.
It might just be the final blow in the debate over which player is the GOAT – the greatest of all time. Always subjective and able to spark debate among fans both hard-core and casual, there will never be a definitive answer to that question.
As far as international trophies go, both have a continental title (Copa America for Messi, European Championship for Ronaldo) – but Messi boasts the ultimate prize, the World Cup trophy. Of course, both players could still win another continental title (particularly Messi at next year’s Copa America) or even the World Cup in 2026.
When it comes to club trophies, Messi trails his rival 5-4 in Champions League titles, but has more league crowns (12-7) and domestic cups (7-6).
Ronaldo has more career goals on both the domestic and international stages, while Messi has more assists in both departments.
But the major difference, statistically at least, is that Messi has played over 100 fewer games than his rival – not a surprise given he is two years younger than the Portuguese icon.
And when it comes to goals or assists per game or per minute, Messi boasts a superior record.
Goal contributions, trophies or records at the international and domestic arenas add weight to arguments over which player is superior, but they cannot truly deliver an answer.
What cannot be debated, however, is that the rivalry is one of the greatest in football history, where their duels on the field and their records off it were equally brilliant as they drove each other to ever greater heights.
The consistency of the two players is particularly remarkable.
Ronaldo was nominated for the Ballon d’Or for 19 years in a row from 2004 to 2022 before missing out this year, while Messi has been nominated every year from 2005 onwards except for 2022.
Ronaldo first won the award in 2008 and Messi in 2009. Since then, only twice has the award gone to a different player – Croatia’s Luka Modric in 2018 and France’s Karim Benzema in 2022.
But the pair’s stranglehold on the game’s greatest individual gong looks set to finally come to an end, with 2023 likely to herald the end of their two-man tussle for the golden ball.
While the giants of the game are both still performing at a remarkably high level, neither competes in the upper echelons of European club football.
Ronaldo captains Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr after departing Manchester United in January. The Portugal great is still firing in goals – 25 in 26 league games this calendar year, to go with eight assists. In all competitions, he has a remarkable 28 goals and 10 assists in 33 appearances.
Messi, meanwhile, has started strongly at Inter Miami after moving from Paris Saint-Germain in July, tallying 11 goals and five assists in 14 appearances across all competitions.
The numbers for both players are impressive – as good as anyone in the world, to be fair.
But Ronaldo is highly unlikely to add to his record 19 nominations for the award, while Messi’s 15th nomination this year is also likely to be his last.
That’s because the standard of the competitions in which they feature is lower than the elite European leagues. And even if they do get nominated again, not since Igor Belanov in 1986 has the award gone to someone playing outside of Europe’s five biggest leagues (England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain).
“I am not thinking about the long-term future. I am just enjoying the day to day at the moment,” Messi said
Next year, there’ll be a new player writing their name into the history books as the winner of the 70th Ballon d’Or.
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THE HEIRS TO THE THRONE
Messi might have won the trophy again, but it was surely a close-run thing.
Erling Haaland finished second after his unbelievable goalscoring exploits for Manchester City.
The Norwegian striker bagged 52 goals in 53 games for his club in the 2022/23 campaign, guiding them to a first-ever treble, and topscored in both the Premier League and Champions League.
He added four goals for Norway in as many games, but wasn’t able to showcase his skills on the biggest stage after the nation missed out on World Cup qualification for Qatar.
Speaking before the awards, Haaland’s Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola joked that Messi’s alien-like achievements meant he should be given a separate category in the Ballon d’Or.
“I always said that the Ballon d’Or had to be two sections: one for Messi and one for the others,” Guardiola quipped.
“But of course, Messi, if you tell me the worst season of Messi it is the best for the rest of them. Both deserve it.”
Guardiola, who previously coached Messi at Barcelona, added: “Egotistically I would say I want Erling (to win the trophy) because he helped us to achieve what we achieved. I would love it but I won’t tell you it’s unfair if Leo wins.”
Messi’s former PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe was third after another fantastic campaign, winning another Ligue 1 title as well as the World Cup golden boot as France made the final – where he lost to Messi’s Argentina despite scoring a hat-trick.
He scored 54 competitive goals for club and country, falling just two short of Haaland’s tally that saw the Premier League goal machine today win the Gerd Muller award.
With Mbappe 24 years old and Haaland 23, the stage is set for the two to duel for top honours for years to come – both in terms of scoring and Ballon d’Or awards.
In his acceptance speech, Messi said: “Haaland and Mbappe will win the Ballon d’Or one day.
“Erling deserved it very much too, he has won the Premier League, and Champions League while being the top scorer of everything.
“This award could have been yours today too. I’m sure in the next years you will win it.”
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But Haaland recently told France Football – who founded the Ballon d’Or award back in 1956 – that he doesn’t view his relationship with Mbappe like the Messi-Ronaldo duel of the last two decades.
“That’s what everyone thinks, but you have to emphasise just how crazy the things Messi and Cristiano have done,” said Haaland. “You also have to remember that they’re still doing it, even if they’re getting older. They’re still fantastic players.
“But I never talk about myself being against other players, it’s not my way of seeing things. I focus on myself, I only try to be better every day, to continue enjoying what I do and being the best version of myself.”
Manchester City’s midfield conductor Kevin de Bruyne was fourth and figures as another contender in the years to come.
But Mbappe and Haaland’s biggest threat to winning the top trophy in 2024 might just be Jude Bellingham.
The 20-year-old England star won the Kopa Trophy for the best season by a player under 21, having scored 14 times in 42 games for Borussia Dortmund in his final season in Germany before moving to Real Madrid. He also starred for England in their quarter-finals run at the World Cup in Qatar.
But this season he looks set to reach even greater heights, scoring 13 goals in his first 13 games in Madrid, including a dazzling brace in the weekend’s El Clasico win over Barcelona.
Speaking on CBS Sports after the game, he revealed that team trophies were his priority, but that he had dreamt of winning the Ballon d’Or in the future.
Told that Gary Lineker predicted him to win the Ballon d’Or in 2028, Bellingham replied: “It wasn’t me, was it? Ah, well, that’s very nice of him. For me, it’s all about the team awards but it is definitely one you think of when you are a kid.”
Bellingham looms as a key player for England at the upcoming European Championships in Germany, where Mbappe’s France have also qualified.
Haaland’s Norway are struggling in qualification, but may still make it to the tournament proper through the play-offs.
And Cristiano Ronaldo has also declared he has ‘something to prove’ and wants to lead Portugal at the Euros in June-July, with the nation also having secured qualification.
At the same time, Lionel Messi will be in action at the Copa America tournament in the United States.
The Argentine and Ronaldo might be long odds to win another Ballon d’Or – or even be nominated – but they’re still shining at club level and on the international stage.
Their stranglehold on the individual trophy might be ending, but the golden era of their greatness isn’t finished quite yet.
And when you look at the next generation of stars, the future is bright.