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#3 Roberto Carlos & Ronaldo Nazario- Real Madrid/Brazil (2002)
Both Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos were in contention for the 2002 Ballon d'Or after winning the World Cup with Brazil. Ronaldo managed to play only 16 games for Inter that season due to injuries, scoring seven goals and providing three assists.
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On the other hand, Roberto Carlos played 52 games for Real Madrid, registering figures of six goals and 10 assists from the left-back position to help Madrid win the UEFA Champions League that season.
But as with Van Basten, it was Ronaldo's performance at the World Cup that ultimately helped him win his second Ballon d'Or. Ronaldo scored a whopping eight goals in the tournament, with two goals against Germany in the final helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup.
His performance impressed sports journalists as he claimed the Ballon d'Or with 169 points, finishing ahead of Roberto Carlos who could only amass 145 points.
Ronaldo later joined his international team-mate at Real Madrid after the World Cup.
#2 Fabio Cannavaro & Gianluigi Buffon- Italy/Juventus (2006)
Fabio Cannavaro & Ginaluigi Buffon were nominated for the Ballon d'Or after winning the World Cup with Italy in 2006.
They also led Juventus to the Serie A title before the Italian giants were stripped of their honor for their role in the Calciopoli (match-fixing scandal).
Both Cannavaro and Buffon had a brilliant season at club level, conceding only 24 goals over the course of the campaign and winning Serie A with 91 points before Juventus were embroiled in the scandal.
They carried their form to the World Cup and were solid in defense for Italy, who conceded only two goals in the entire tournament, beating France in the final to lift the trophy.
Cannavaro eventually won the Ballon d'Or with 173 points while Buffon claimed the second-spot with 124 points. He became only the third defender to win the Ballon d'Or after Matthias Sammer and Franz Beckenbauer and was the last defender till date to win the award.
#1 Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi- Barcelona (2010)
The 2010 edition of the Ballon d'Or was a special one for Barcelona fans. It was the only time that three players from the same team, trained in the academy of that club, occupied all three places on the podium.
Lionel Messi had an excellent season at the individual level winning the Pichichi, the Golden Boot and the La Liga with Andres Iniesta and Xavi, both of whom also won the World Cup in South Africa with Spain.
Messi won his second Ballon d'Or with 22.65% of the votes, while Iniesta finished behind him with 17.36% votes and Xavi third with 16.48% votes.
Though Messi won the Ballon d'Or, many had expected Andres Inesta or Weslie Sneijder to clinch the award, with the former lifting the World Cup with Spain and also scoring in the final while the latter won the treble with Inter and helped the Netherlands reach the World Cup final.
