Ballon d'Or: 10 players who could have won if Messi and Ronaldo did not exist

#8 Antoine Griezmann

Antoine Griezmann missed out on a number of awards narrowly in 2016

One of the most in-demand players in world football at the moment, Antoine Griezmann has certainly established himself as a top quality world class player in the last few years. Undoubtedly the best forward in France, Griezmann had an excellent 2016 year where he scored close to 40 goals and guided both Atletico and France to the Champions League and Euro 2016 final respectively.

However, in both the matches he came up short against Cristiano Ronaldo's teams losing out on two important trophies and the prestigious Ballon d'Or award as well. Having finished 3rd last year, the Frenchman has been nominated this year as well, but it looks highly unlikely that he will claim the top prize.

Quick, innovative and blessed with excellent technical ability, Griezmann certainly has all the ingredients of a complete forward, but the Frenchman will unfortunately never claim the top prize till Ronaldo and Messi continue to perform at the very highest level.