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The Ballon d’Or is considered the pinnacle of individual excellence in football, with every world-class player on the planet dreaming of adding it to their kitty.
Created in 1956 by the sports publication France Football, the idea for the Ballon d’Or originated in the mind of former French footballer and journalist Gabriel Hanot – who was also the brains behind the European Cup.
In a nod to its founder’s journalistic roots, the Ballon d’Or winners were picked on votes by football journalists, with coaches and national team captains only given the right to vote after 2007. The award’s inaugural winner was Blackpool great Stanley Matthews – widely considered one of the finest forwards of all time.
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Despite the Ballon d’Or’s prestige, its eligibility was exclusively limited to European nationals, depriving many international talents of the honor. That was until the 90s, which proved to be a trailblazing era for the Ballon d’Or. Foreign players plying their trade in Europe were made eligible for the award for the first time in 1995.
As a result of this ground-breaking amendment, AC Milan’s George Weah became the Ballon d’Or’s first, and so far only African recipient in 1995. Inter Milan’s Ronaldo became the award's first South American recipient two years later.
So far, all the Ballon d’Or winners have picked up the prize for their achievements in Europe despite a 2007 rule change that made players plying their trade all over the world eligible for the honor.
The Ballon d’Or was briefly merged with FIFA’s World Player of the Year, and came to be known as the FIFA Ballon d’Or, before France Football ended the association, reverting the award back to its original name.
For a little over a decade, the Ballon d’Or has been dominated by Lionel Messi (6 wins) and Cristiano Ronaldo (5 wins), with Luka Modric’s 2018 win being the only break in the duo's domination.
A number of factors, including eligibility criteria, surprise upsets, voting bias and other reasons dating back to the award’s inception have resulted in some of the game’s legends never lifting the prize.
With that in mind, let’s look at five world-class players who retired without winning the Ballon d’Or.
#5 Thierry Henry
Undoubtedly one of the greatest strikers the game has ever seen. Henry is a player who has seen and won it all, but counts as another legend who never got his hands on the Ballon d’Or.
The Frenchman did come pretty close, though. In 2003 – in the midst of the Invincibles season, which was Henry’s most prolific in an Arsenal shirt, the striker was runner-up to eventual winner Pavel Nedved. In 2006, he came third behind Gianluigi Buffon and eventual winner Fabio Cannavaro.
Henry also had to settle for runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year on two occasions (2003 and 2004), losing out to Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho respectively.
A sad set of circumstances for a player who took Europe and football in general by storm. Nevertheless, missing out on the Ballon d’Or during his playing career will not dent Theirry Henry’s golden legacy, with few players even close to matching his level of excellence.
#4 Xavi
During his playing days Xavi was a midfield maestro in every sense of the word. Hell, he could make anything tick, even a clock with no batteries!
Barcelona and Spain could never be the world-beating teams they were in the mid-2000s without his genius. To his misfortune, Xavi also hit his peak during the era of Lionel Messi, which resulted in him settling for a third-place in the Ballon d’Or on three consecutive occasions (2009-2011).
Nevertheless, Xavi’s contributions to the game are there for all to see, and he will still go down as one of the greatest midfielders who won it all despite missing out on the Ballon d’Or.
#3 Raúl
In addition to being a prolific goalscorer, Raúl was an excellent servant for boyhood club Real Madrid, whom he faithfully served for 16 glittering years. Ever willing to put the club before himself, it’s safe to say that Raúl was a rare bird in a world of glory hunters.
However, despite his incredible goalscoring exploits for Los Blancos, Raúl never won a Ballon d’Or – controversially losing out on the prize to future teammate Michael Owen in 2001.
Now Owen is rightly considered as one of the greatest English players ever, but Raul’s achievements over the past year– which included a Champions League, where he was the top scorer, La Liga and Super Cup win were seen as far superior to Owen’s.
In fact, the Englishman’s win was rumored to be a result of politics as no English player had won the prize since Kevin Keegan’s victory in 1979. A Ballon d’Or would have been a fitting tribute to Raúl’s genius, but his golden legacy will remain intact even without it.
#2 Diego Maradona
The late and great Diego Maradona will be remembered for many things. Especially for those two incidents against England in the 1986 World Cup – but most of all he’ll be remembered as one of the greatest players to ever grace the pitch.
Although he did play in Europe, most notably for Barcelona and Napoli – where he’s revered as a God – the Ballon d’Or’s rules with regard to nationality in his heyday meant he could never pick up the award he rightly deserved.
By the time rules were amended in 1995, Maradona was way, way past his best, robbing one of the game’s finest players of a prize he would have no doubt dominated if things had been different.
Nevertheless, Maradona gave us countless moments of genius on the pitch. It was a phenomenal performance throughout the 1986 World Cup, where he not only lifted the trophy as captain but also won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player as well as the Silver Shoe.
His legacy, immortalized by the FIFA Player of the Century award – which he shared with Pele, will live on.
#1 Pele
The debate about who’s the greatest footballer of all time will rage on for centuries, but what can’t be argued is Pele’s status as one of the all-time greats. The Brazilian’s phenomenal feat of three World Cup trophies and a ridiculous 643 goals for Santos is unlikely to be replicated by many, and possibly never will be.
Not to mention his sublime dribbling skills, his versatility on the frontline, visionary passing skills and adeptness with either foot – traits that make Pele a player for the ages. In fact, for many people who grew up from the 50s to the 70s, Pele – who is Brazil’s all-time top scorer with 77 goals – was football.
Sadly, the Ballon d’Or rules during Pele’s playing career meant that he was never eligible to win this prestigious trophy. There have been countless Ballon d’Or upsets in the decades gone by, but this is perhaps the saddest of all.
Pele – who never won an individual award from FIFA during his playing career – was bestowed with an honorary Ballon d’Or in 2013 – but it just didn’t feel the same.
Nevertheless, O Rei's impact on the beautiful game, a phrase which he coined, is indelible. The benchmarks he set will be looked up to by generations of footballers for a long, long time.
