Wednesday, November 27, 2024

How Every Ballon d’Or Winner Since 1998 Answered the Messi v Ronaldo Debate

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Key Takeaways

  • Only three Ballon d’Or winners have chosen Ronaldo, highlighting divisive opinions.
  • Seven champions, like Rivaldo, support Messi, appreciating his game-changing abilities.
  • Some winners, such as Kaka, Figo, and Nedved, remain neutral, seeing both as true greats.

Having Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo grace the same era is a once-in-a-lifetime gift to football fans, a phenomenon that might never be repeated. Universally hailed as two of the greatest players in history, their rivalry has not just shaped but defined an entire generation of the sport. With jaw-dropping goal and assist tallies and an incredible 13 Ballon d’Or titles between them, the debate over who stands supreme remains as thrilling as it is unresolved, with no concrete verdict in sight.

The Ballon d’Or itself has become somewhat of a final frontier for this rivalry, where Messi and Ronaldo have dominated year after year. Kaka’s 2007 victory feels like a relic from a bygone era, one that celebrated a more varied and competitive field of winners. Before their dominance, the award honoured a rotating roster of football’s most dazzling talents, reflecting the sport’s rich diversity.

With Messi and Ronaldo now leading the charge, the once-open contest has turned into a heated two-horse race. The debate over who deserves the title of greatest has sparked fiery discussions – even among the players and coaches casting the votes for this prestigious award. To shed light on football’s most enduring debate, we’ve analyzed the views of every Ballon d’Or winner since 1998. These are the individuals who’ve reached the pinnacle of individual achievement firsthand, making their opinions a valuable lens on the Messi vs. Ronaldo rivalry.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

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How Every Ballon d’Or Winner Since 1998 Answered the Messi v Ronaldo Debate

Ballon d’Or year

Winner

Choice

1998

Zinedine Zidane

Cristiano Ronaldo

1999

Rivaldo

Lionel Messi

2000

Luis Figo

Undecided

2001

Michael Owen

Cristiano Ronaldo

2002

Ronaldo

Lionel Messi

2003

Pavel Nedved

Undecided

2004

Andriy Shevchenko

Lionel Messi

2005

Ronaldinho

Lionel Messi

2006

Fabio Cannavaro

Lionel Messi

2007

Kaka

Undecided

2018

Luka Modric

Lionel Messi

2022

Karim Benzema

Cristiano Ronaldo

2024

Rodri

Lionel Messi

Those Who Picked Cristiano Ronaldo

Only three Ballon d’Or victors chose the Real Madrid icon

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Ronaldo became the first of the pair to collect a major international trophy as he led Portugal to victory at Euro 2016, but Messi has since equalled that distinction with Argentina’s 2021 Copa America triumph and surpassed it by winning the World Cup the following year. This presents itself as the main reason for a bigger rift in opinion in recent conversations.

This is evidenced by the fact that only three former Ballon d’Or winners since 1998 have chosen the 39-year-old as their greatest. Not surprisingly, either, the trio all played Real Madrid at some stage of their careers, so their verdicts must certainly be taken with a pinch of salt.

ZInedine Zidane, who won the Ballon d’Or in 1999 after a stellar season for club and country, went on to manage Ronaldo in the Spanish capital. His perspective on the Messi vs. Ronaldo debate reflects a sense of loyalty to the player who played a pivotal role in Zidane’s historic achievement of securing three consecutive Champions League titles between 2015 and 2018.

Cristiano Ronaldo

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Another player to have donned the iconic white and gold shirt is Michael Owen. Interestingly, he cited Ronaldo’s all-roundedness as the reason for his choice in the debate—a point often used by others to argue in favour of Messi. Owen explained: “I think Messi is outstanding in certain attributes but as an all-round physique, Ronaldo is such an all-round player.”

The third and final player to side with Ronaldo is the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner, Karim Benzema. Having shared the pitch 242 times at Real Madrid and assisted each other on 76 occasions, their partnership was one of the club’s most prolific. Given that only Pepe has played more games alongside the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Benzema’s choice was unsurprising.

Those Who Picked Lionel Messi

Seven players, including Luka Modric, went with the Argentinian

Inter Miami's Lionel Messi with the men's Ballon d'Or

Rivaldo has long maintained his allegiance with Barcelona and, in an interview in 2017, noted: “I would like to play with Messi, he is the best of the world, the one who makes more differences. Ronaldo? He is the most dangerous player at Real. It is hard to stop him, like Messi, because both score a lot of goals and you never know what is going to be the next thing they will invent for scoring.”

The Brazilian claimed the 1999 Ballon d’Or, despite arguments that David Beckham, arguably the driving force behind Manchester United’s treble-winning season, was more deserving. Nevertheless, his stance on the debate was just the first of many that sided with Messi, with compatriot Ronaldo, who played on both sides of the Spain-Catalonia divide, saying Messi “brought more magic to football.”

Andriy Shevchenko pointed to Messi’s extraordinary feats in 2012 to back his claim as the greatest, remarking during the 2013 ceremony: “To score 91 goals in a full year is unbelievable. Both him and Cristiano are great, but Leo Messi is incredible.” Meanwhile, Ronaldinho joined the list of Brazilians favouring his fellow South American. Reflecting on their brief time together on the pitch, he shared: “I didn’t get enough time with him, he was very young. I’d love to take to the pitch with him one more time.”

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo celebrating.

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Fabio Cannavaro, one of the few defenders to win the Ballon d’Or, gave an intriguing take in 2013, stating: “Both Messi and Ronaldo are great players in terms of scoring. At this very moment, Messi is a little bit better.” While it’s unclear if his opinion has shifted over time, Cannavaro has also previously placed Brazilian Ronaldo and Diego Maradona on the same level.

Despite playing so many times with Ronaldo and winning so many trophies together, Luka Modric once named Messi as the “greatest player in history”, while Rodri, the most recent recipient of a Ballon d’Or mantle, agreed with the sentiment, claiming he was one player who could create danger from any area of the pitch.

Players Without A Verdict

Luis Figo, Pavel Nedved, and Kaka remain undecided

Messi and Ronaldo

For some, the debate over the greatest of all time remains too difficult to call. This is the case with Luis Figo, Pavel Nedved, and Kaka, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2000, 2003, and 2007, respectively. Figo’s answer was highly anticipated given his history with Barcelona and Real Madrid but to the frustration of football fans, he sat on the fence when asked to choose one ahead of the other. He said:

“They are both the best in the world. It is always difficult to choose one of them and say he is the best. I would never choose between them.”

Bizarrely, while Nedved’s allegiances to Juventus would usually lead to him picking Ronaldo, the Czech icon once claimed Zlatan Ibrahimovic is just as good as them and that Gonzalo Higuain is a better striker than both. It’s safe to say this was a much stranger stance than that of Kaka, who simply admitted he just couldn’t split the two.

As the final player to have won the Ballon d’Or before Messi and Ronaldo started their reign of dominance, the Brazilian attacking midfielder’s verdict is surely one of the most respected of all former winners of the mantle. However, he beat around the bush in his answer back in 2018, saying: “Messi is a genius and Ronaldo is a sort of icon of modern football… both have undoubtedly defined their generation. They’re sporting greats.”

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