Players like Thierry Henry, Andres Iniesta, and Paolo Maldini shook the football world with their talent but never managed to win the Ballon d’Or. The Ballon d’Or is the most prestigious individual award in football. It is awarded to the best player of the year, but that has not always been the case according to the public. This list consists of some of the greatest footballers who never managed to win the Ballon d’or award. Many people in this list deserved to win at least one Ballon d’Or in their illustrious careers but never managed to do so.
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1. Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry is regarded as one of the best players to ever play the beautiful game. Henry has unbelievable stats and even better honours to back his career up. Henry has won the Premier League, LaLiga, Champions League, and even the FIFA World Cup. The prestigious Ballon d’Or award, however, has always eluded the French striker. Many around the world think that Henry should have received at least one Ballon d’Or to mark his amazing career as a professional footballer but he remains as one of the greatest footballers to have never won the Ballon d’Or.
Henry came perilously close to winning the Ballon d’or award in 2003. Pavel Nedved was awarded the Ballon d’Or in 2003 for his 28 goal involvements in Serie A and the Champions League as Nedved’s team lifted both the titles. Nedved’s numbers, however, paled in comparison to that of Henry’s. The Arsenal striker scored 42 times in the season and added 26 assists. Henry also broke the record for most assists in a single Premier League season.
2. Andres Iniesta
Andres Iniesta is regarded as one of the best midfielders and players in history. Iniesta spent almost the entirety of his career playing for FC Barcelona. Iniesta won the LaLiga title 9 times with Barcelona. If this was not impressive enough, he has also won the FIFA World Cup with Spain. Andres Iniesta was more than impressive in Spain’s 2010 FIFA World Cup run. Spain faced Netherlands in the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The score stood level at 0-0 till the 90th minute, sending the game in extra time. In the 116th minute, it was Spain’s Andres Iniesta who found the breakthrough.
Iniesta scored the only goal of the final to make Spain the Champions of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Despite winning the World Cup and scoring the all-important goal in the World Cup final, Iniesta only finish 2nd in the Ballon d’Or rankings. Lionel Messi, Iniesta’s teammate at Barcelona, was awarded the Ballon d’Or that year. This seemed like an unfair choice to many around the world who thought that Iniesta should have won the award. Messi winning the 2010 Ballon d’or award is spoken about as a controversial topic till this day. Even though Iniesta never ended up winning the Ballon d’Or award, he has etched his name in history as one of the best footballers ever.
3. Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski is one of the most deserved winners of the FIFA Ballon d’Or award. Lewandowski arguably should have had 2 Ballon d’or awards. Robert Lewandowski managed to win the Bundesliga, the UEFA Champions League, and the DFB-Pokal with Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 season to complete the treble. Lewandowski scored 55 goals that season and looked like he was surely going to win the 2020 Ballon d’Or award. Due to Covid-19, however, the 2020 Ballon d’Or ceremony was cancelled. The French authorities decided to write off the Ligue 1 season, and while leagues around the world finished their seasons after a break, the Ballon d’or ceremony was cancelled.
Lewandowski, however, did not let this dishearten him. He came back even stronger the next year, scoring 62 goals for Bayern Munich in all competitions. It looked like Lewandowski would finally manage to win the Ballon d’Or in 2021. Lewandowski managed to get 580 votes for the 2021 Ballon d’Or award, but it was still 33 lesser than Lionel Messi’s 613. Lionel Messi was awarded the 2021 Ballon d’Or despite Lewandowski’s performances in the 2020-21 season. In the end Lewandowski had to be content with the inaugural ‘Gerd Muller Striker of the Year’s prize. After his performances in 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, Lewandowski should have at least one Ballon d’Or, but this is not the case. It now looks unlikely that Lewandowski will ever get another chance to win the prestigious Ballon d’Or award.
4. Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez is one of the most threatening strikers of all time. He was a phenomenal striker for Ajax, Liverpool, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid. One of Suarez’s best chances to win the Ballon d’Or came when he was playing for Liverpool. Suarez broke the record for most goals in a single 38-game Premier League season. He scored 31 goals in the 2013-14 Premier League season. He held the record for the most goals scored in a Premier League season until it was broken by Mohamed Salah in 2017/18. Liverpool, however, narrowly lost out on winning the Premier League. They finished 2 points behind Manchester City, and with that went away any chances Suarez had of winning the 2014 Ballon d’Or award.
Luis Suarez joined FC Barcelona in 2014. While he played phenomenal at Barcelona, scoring goals for fun and winning titles every season, his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or had decreased rather than increase. This was because Suarez was now playing alongside one of the greatest players of all time, Lionel Messi. The front three trio of Neymar Jr, Luis Suarez, and Lionel Messi wreaked havoc for years, but it was Lionel Messi who shone the strongest out of all of them. He went on to win 8 Ballon d’Or awards, while Luis Suarez never managed to win the Ballon d’Or in his career despite his achievements.
5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic retired after the 2022-23 season. He retired at AC Milan, putting an end to his chances of ever winning the Ballon d’Or award. Zlatan played for a series of amazing teams throughout his career. He played for Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, and Manchester United. Zlatan won various trophies for whichever team he played for, but never managed to get his hands on the prestigious Ballon d’Or award. Zlatan won the Eredivisie, Serie A, La Liga, Ligue One, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Europa League, and the FA Cup. Despite his domination in leagues all around the world and various trophies, his best ever finish in the Ballon d’or was when he finished 4th in 2013. Even though Ibrahimovic never won the Ballon d’Or award, he is widely respected as a footballer by players and fans alike.
6. Franck Ribery
Franck Ribery is one of Bayern Munich’s greatest legends. He had one of the best individual seasons ever in 2013. It looked like he was all but set to win the Ballon d’Or award in 2013, but Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded the 2013 Ballon d’Or instead. Franck Ribery won the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and the UEFA Champions League in the 2012-13 season. This made Bayern Munich the first German club to win the treble. Jupp Heynckes’ Bayern Munich finished 25 points ahead of arch rivals Borussia Dortmund. Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund side also managed to reach the finals of the DFB-Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. Franck Ribery helped Bayern beat Dortmund in both the DFB-Pokal final, as well as the Champions League final, to complete the treble.
The Frenchman managed to get 34 goal contributions in the season while also winning the treble, but still finished only third in the 2013 Ballon d’Or rankings. While Cristiano Ronaldo scored 55 goals in the 2012-13 season, his team Real Madrid did not manage to win a single major trophy. Lionel Messi was powerless as Barcelona suffered a 7-0 aggregate defeat to Franck Ribery’s Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals. While Franck Ribery finished 3rd behind both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, many, including Ribery himself shared the view that it was Franck Ribery who deserved to win the 2013 Ballon d’Or award.
Franck Ribery said:
“It was unfair. It was an incredible season for me, and I should have won it. They extended the time for votes, and something strange happened. I felt that it was a political choice.”
7. Neymar Jr
Naymar Jr is arguably one of the biggest talents to arrive on the footballing stage. Neymar Jr broke onto the main stage with Brazilian club Santos. It was with Santos that Neymar Jr got his first taste at the Ballon d’Or. In 2011, at the age of just 19, Neymar Jr had one of the best seasons by a youngster. Neymar had 19 goals and 8 assists for Santos. This helped Neymar Jr finish in the top 10 of the Ballon d’Or rankings. This was an amazing feat given that Neymar was just 19 years of age and playing for Santos.
Neymar secured a move to FC Barcelona in 2013. Given his talents, it was expected that multiple Ballon d’Ors would follow Neymar after he managed to move to Barcelona. Neymar, however, failed to win the Ballon d’Or even once in his career. This cannot be blamed on Neymar’s talent though. Neymar performed at the top most level for FC Barcelona, forming an amazing partnership with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi, but there were other factors that prevented Neymar Jr from winning the Ballon d’Or. One of the reasons was that Neymar Jr’s career was littered with unfortunate injuries. Another reason was that at FC Barcelona, no matter how well he performed, Lionel Messi seemed to shine brighter, and therefore it was him who won the Ballon d’Ors.
Neymar Jr decided to leave Barcelona and move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. He did so with the hope to leave Barcelona and Lionel Messi behind, and try and get some recognition like winning the Ballon d’Or. Neymar, however, was unable to really cause much change at PSG. He was unable to win the UEFA Champions League with them, which was one of the main reasons PSG signed him. Neymar left PSG to join Al-Hilal in 2023 and currently plays in the Saudi Pro League. Even though Neymar has yet not retired, it is unlikely that he will win the Ballon d’Or now. He will most likely end his career without ever winning the Ballon d’Or award.
8. Ferenc Puskas
Ferenc Puskas was a fantastic football player. In fact, FIFA named an award after him called the Puskas award. The Puskas award is given to the player who scores the best goal of the year. It is ironic that while Puskas had an award named after him, he never managed to win the Ballon d’Or award. Puskas came closest to winning the Ballon d’Or in 1960. He scored 4 goals for Real Madrid against Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 European Cup final. The Hungarian finished in second place behind Spanish midfielder and Barcelona player Luis Suarez. While Puskas was outstanding for Real Madrid, it was his teammate Alfredo Di Stefano who took the centre stage. Puskas ended his career with 514 goals in 530 games. Despite such an amazing record, he never managed to win the Ballon d’Or award.
9. Arjen Robben
Arjen Robben like his teammate Franck Ribery has never managed to win the Ballon d’Or in his illustrious career. He played at Bayern Munich and his partnership with Franck Ribery is regarded as one of the best partnerships to ever exist in football. Robben was also a part of the treble winning Bayern Munich side but finished in 4th in the Ballon d’Or rankings behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Franck Ribery. This has been Arjen Robben’s highest ever finish.
Arjen Robben played for various teams like Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich. He impressed in each of these teams, showing his class as a footballer. His crowning achievement came in 2013 when he scored the deciding goal in the Champions League final to beat Borussia Dortmund and complete the treble for Bayern Munich. He also led Netherlands to a runner-up and third place finish in 2010 and 2014 respectively. Robben was arguably one of the best performers in the 2014 FIFA World Cup but could only finish third. Despite achieving major honours throughout his career, Robben never managed to get his hands on the elusive Ballon d’Or award and will remain as one of the best players to have never won this prestigious award.
10. Paolo Maldini
Paolo Maldini is regarded by many around the world as the best defender ever. Yet someone of his stature did not manage to win the Ballon d’Or award. Only 3 defenders have ever won the Ballon d’Or, namely Franz Beckenbauer, Matthias Sammer, and Fabio Cannavaro. Paolo Maldini should have surely been the fourth to do so. Maldini played with one team in his entire career, AC Milan. He led them to 7 Serie A titles and 5 Champions League titles. This is a phenomenal achievement for any player.
Maldini was one of the most dominating defenders to ever play football. He exuded passion and leadership like no other. His career was filled with major honours and though he is regarded as the best defender of all time, the elusive Ballon d’Or award escaped him. His best finishes came in 1004 and 2003 where he finished third in the rankings. Maldini having never won the Ballon d’Or is a shock and mystery to anyone who has heard of him and shows that the award disregards defenders and is more oriented towards goal scorers. This should not be the case and the best player should be determined despite their position. If the Ballon d’Or was judged in this manner, Maldini would surely have won at least one Ballon d’Or award in his illustrious career.
Editors pick
