Neymar, Wayne Rooney & the top 10 greatest players to never win the Ballon d'Or - ranked
The esteemed Golden Ball has been elusive to so many great footballers down the years, but who deserved it the most? Back in 1995, the Ballon d'Or became eligible to non-European players for the first time, which helped it to become the most sought-after award in the sport. A grand total of 17 players have won it since then, including African icon George Weah, Brazilian quartet Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka, and Argentine maestro Lionel Messi, who has dominated the vote over the last 16 years with a record haul of eight wins.Meanwhile, Portuguese goal machine Cristiano Ronaldo has brought the Golden Ball back to Europe on five occasions, and Mathias Sammer, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Michael Owen, Pavel Nedved, Andriy Shevchenko, Fabio Cannavaro, Luka Modric, Karim Benzema and Rodri have each claimed the prestigious prize once. All of those players were deserving winners, too, but so were many of the superstars they beat to the top of the podium.As we edge closer to the 2025 winner being crowned, GOAL has ranked the top 10 greatest footballers to never win the Ballon d'Or, starting with a man who scored a whopping 573 career goals on his way to lifting 34 trophies...
The esteemed Golden Ball has been elusive to so many great footballers down the years, but who deserved it the most? Back in 1995, the Ballon d'Or became eligible to non-European players for the first time, which helped it to become the most sought-after award in the sport. A grand total of 17 players have won it since then, including African icon George Weah, Brazilian quartet Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka, and Argentine maestro Lionel Messi, who has dominated the vote over the last 16 years with a record haul of eight wins.Meanwhile, Portuguese goal machine Cristiano Ronaldo has brought the Golden Ball back to Europe on five occasions, and Mathias Sammer, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Michael Owen, Pavel Nedved, Andriy Shevchenko, Fabio Cannavaro, Luka Modric, Karim Benzema and Rodri have each claimed the prestigious prize once. All of those players were deserving winners, too, but so were many of the superstars they beat to the top of the podium.As we edge closer to the 2025 winner being crowned, GOAL has ranked the top 10 greatest footballers to never win the Ballon d'Or, starting with a man who scored a whopping 573 career goals on his way to lifting 34 trophies...
