8) Best in the world – Five times
Messi’s rise to the top of the footballing pyramid has also coincided with the rise of social media and today’s discussions about the best player in the world inevitably centre around the number of Ballon d’Or wins. Messi, as we all know, has won it five times.
The timeline of football ever since it became a sport in the late 1800s can be divided into two parts – Before Messi and After Messi. That is how much of an impact he has had on the sport.
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Cristiano Ronaldo may be cursing his luck that the pair were born just two years apart but this generation of football fans have loved the rivalry between the pair and the die-hard fans have even been consumed by it.
That Messi won four in a row between 2009 and 2012 stamped his authority on the sport during Barcelona’s dream run under Pep Guardiola to go down in history as one of the greatest teams in club football. The Ballon d’Or wins were simply the icing on the cake for Messi.
