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#3 Thierry Henry - 2003 (Ballon d'Or runner-up)
Thierry Henry is one of the best players to have never won the Ballon d'Or award. The all-time Arsenal and France top-scorer made it on to podium for the prestigious award twice, but fell short on both occasions.
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In the first such instance in 2003, Henry finished second to Pavel Nedved of Juventus. That raised quite a few eyebrows as the Frenchman had a standout year, particularly with Arsenal, and was more deserving of the accolade.
Henry bagged 24 goals and a league-leading 20 assists, becoming the first player in a European top-five league to do so. That feat is yet to be repeated in the Premier League, with Messi (2019-20) the only one across Europe's top five leagues doing so.
Although Arsenal finished second to Manchester United in the Premier League that year, Henry was on a tear in the 2003-04 season as well. The Frenchman led the Gunners to a historic unbeaten league campaign which made Henry's Ballon d'Or snub in 2003 difficult to understand.
Meanwhile, Nedved, the eventual winner, scored 14 goals across competitions as Juventus won Serie A. The Bianconeri lost to AC Milan on penalties in the Champions League final.
Goals or goal contributions wouldn't be a true barometer of the two players' performances, as they didn't play in the same position. However, considering Henry's stellar exploits - especially in the first half of 2003 - he was arguably more deserving of the Ballon d'Or that year than Nedved.
#2 Virgil van Dijk - 2019 (Ballon d'Or runner-up)
Virgil van Dijk is widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs in the game at the moment. Strong in the air and in tackles, the Dutchman is a force to be reckoned with at both ends of the pitch.
Van Dijk has been a key performer for Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool since arriving at the club in early 2018. He played a key role in the Reds reaching back-to-back Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019. Liverpool went on to win the competition in the latter year, thanks to van Dijk's assured presence in their rearguard.
In 2019-20, Van Dijk played a key role in Liverpool's first title in the Premier League era. The Dutchman was a strong contender to win the 2019 Ballon d'Or award, but he eventually lost out to Lionel Messi.
Though Messi had another strong year, winning the Pichichi and La Liga, this was a golden opportunity for the Ballon d'Or to go to a defender. Yet the award's perceived bias towards attackers and goalscorers continued.
Van Dijk did come close, though, losing out to the Argentine by only seven points in one of the closest Ballon d'Or races in years.
Dutch legend Ruud Gullit said about van Dijk's Ballon d'Or snub:
"The message of the Ballon d’Or was, he’s never going to win it again. But, you know, you can’t say Messi didn’t deserve it either. But if there was a possibility to make a stand for a defender, it was this year."
Gullit added:
"(Arrigo) Sacchi already said that van Dijk couldn’t win it because, otherwise, (Franco) Baresi should have won it already. If Baresi didn’t win it, why should he win it? That’s what he said. He didn’t say he didn’t deserve it, but he said they’re never going to give it to a defender. That’s what he said, and that’s a pity."
#1 Robert Lewandowski (2021 Ballon d'Or runner-up)
Robert Lewandowski is one of the most lethal strikers to have graced the game, especially in the last decade.
The prolific Pole has scored goals galore for club and country in the last few years. Lewandowski is the only player since the start of 2020 to score over 100 goals for club and country.
The forward played a key role in Bayern Munich's treble-winning campaign in 2019-20 to emerge as a huge contender for the Ballon d'Or. However, the award itself was controversially canceled that year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It wasn't held belatedly as well, robbing the Pole of a great opportunity to win the coveted award.
Far from being disheartened, Lewandowski put up another stellar year for club and country in 2021, scoring 61 goals. He also scored 41 times in the league to break the late Gerd Muller's five-decade-old record of most goals in a Bundesliga campaign. In the process, Bayern coasted to their ninth consecutive league title.
As if that wasn't enough, Lewandowski has been on a tear this campaign, already amassing 25 goals across competitions. That's a whopping 21 more than 2021 Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi. Messi won the award largely because of his exploits in Argentina's triumphant Copa America 2021 campaign.
Lewandowski ticked all the boxes - goals, big titles, records and impactful performances - yet the Ballon d'Or eluded him once again. He did win the inaugural Striker of the Year award, but that wasn't what he had come for.
Lewandowski's Ballon d'Or snub has been roundly criticized by many legends of the game.
