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Late Argentina legend Diego Maradona once claimed that German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer deserved the 2014 Ballon d'Or over Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Bayern Munich legend helped Die Mannschaft to the World Cup title in Brazil that summer.
Maradona, a legendary figure in the sport, never won the iconic award during his career despite helping Argentina to the World Cup in 1986 because the award was not open to non-Europeans until 1995.
Speaking to Marca in 2016, Maradona said (via GOAL):
"For me, the Ballon d'Or is not accurate. For example in 2014 Manuel Neuer was a finalist with Messi and Ronaldo. The German should have won, he'd just lifted the World Cup!”
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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have established themselves as two of the greatest players in the history of the sport. The duo have claimed thirteen Ballon d'Or awards between them.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi miss out on Ballon d'Or nominations for first time since 2003
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been left out of the Ballon d'Or nominations for the first time since 2003. The duo are two of the most successful footballers in the history of the competition with five and eight wins respectively.
Ronaldo is one of the most prolific goalscorers in history, bagging 765 goals and 240 assists in 83,617 minutes spread out over 1,020 club games. He has also been prolific for his country, bagging 132 goals (the most in international men's football) and 45 assists in 17,012 minutes across 214 games, helping Portugal win the European Championship in 2016 and UEFA Nations League in 2019.
Messi's numbers are incredible as well, bagging 738 goals and 356 assists from 74,591 minutes of football spread across 908 club games. He has scored 109 goals and assisted 58 in 15,488 minutes spread across 187 games for Argentina to help them to the 2022 FIFA World Cup and two Copa America titles (2021, 2024).
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi currently play for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia and Inter Miami in the MLS respectively. The dominance they held over the sport is unlikely to be repeated anytime soon and the duo look set to go down in history as two of the best players of all time.
