5 Greatest Footballers Who Have Never Won The Ballon D’Or Award
Ballon D’Or is the biggest football award in the world and every player wishes to win it at least once in their career. The award was introduced in 1956 and it was only made for players European players playing in Europe continent thus locking out two great players who is, Brazilian legend Pele who passed away in 2022 and Argentine legendary forward Diego Maradona who also passed away in 2020.
In 1995, the Ballon D’Or award model was changed to include all nationalities playing in Europe a move that saw George Weah win the Ballon D’Or that year becoming the first player out of Europe to win the award and the first African and only player to have won the award.
Lionel Messi is the player with the most Ballon D’Or Awards winning it for a record 8 times followed by Portuguese legendary striker Cristiano Ronaldo who has won it 5 times. In this article, we will look at 5 Greatest players in football history who have never won an award in their career.
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5. Robert Lewandowski
The Poland international is one the best strikers in recent years having topped scoring charts in Bundesliga while playing for Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich winning a host of trophies in Germany before he made his move to Barcelona in 2022 where he won La Liga title in his first season with Barcelona as well as winning La Liga Golden boot with 23 goals.
During the 2020/21 season Ballon d’Or awards, Lewandoski finished second in the awards behind Lionel who won it many fans across the globe felt, Lewandowski was ‘robbed of’ his award.
4. Neymar Jr.
The former Barcelona and PSG winger holds the record as the most expensive player of all time when he made his transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint Germain on the 3rd of August in 2017 for a fee of €222 million.
The Brazilian star who won every possible with both Barcelona and PSG has never won the Ballon Award in his football career. In the summer Neymar moved to Saudi Pro League’s side Al-Hilal where he has made only three appearances before sustaining a ligament tear injury.
3. Thierry Henry
The former Arsenal captain is one of the Greatest players in football history who have never won the Ballon d’Or award.
Henry was in the Arsenal squad that won the English Premier League title unbeaten in the 2003/04 season where he also won the English Premier League Golden Boot in the same season with 30 goals.
The 1998, world Cup winner with France retired from professional football in 2015 at New York Red Bulls in USA Major Soccer League.
2. Paolo Maldini
The Italian and AC Milan legendary defender Paolo Maldini is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time. The veteran defender spent his whole career playing for AC Milan where he won 26 trophies with the Serie A giants before retiring in 2009 at the age of 41.
He is career with Milan he won 5 UEFA Champions League trophies and 7 Serie A titles where he was shortlisted twice in 1994 and 2003 but failed to win the Ballon D’Or award after finishing third on both occasions.
1. Xavi Hernandez
The former Barcelona and Spanish midfielder Xavi who is the current Barcelona manager who took over the club in 2021 but he recently announced that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season after spending three seasons at Camp Nou.
Xavi dominated La Liga with Barcelona winning 8 La Liga titles and 4 UEFA Champions League trophies with Barcelona as well as FIFA World Cup in 2010 with Spain’s national team which was held in South Africa. Unluckily the Spanish midfielder has never won a single Ballon D’Or award despite his successful career.
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