Ballon d’Or: 7 footballers who came second best and never won the trophy

#3 Thierry Henry - 2003

Thierry Henry in Barcelona v Sevilla - La Liga

Thierry Henry played a major chunk of his career at Arsenal between 1999 and 2007. It is between these years that he came up into the top 3 of Ballon d’Or voting results twice -- in 2003 and in 2006.

In 2003, he came second best to the Czech footballer Pavel Nedved who was playing for Juventus. While Nedved received 190 points, Henry received only 128 points.

In 2006, he once again got into the top 3 of Ballon d’Or awards with 121 points. But he came third best after Juventus custodian Gianluigi Buffon (124 points) and Real Madrid star Fabio Cannavaro (173 points).

After Arsenal, Henry went on to play for Barcelona and Newyork Redbulls, retiring in 2012. After retirement he took up a job at Sky Sports as a pundit and later followed it up with a coaching position with Monaco.