Ranking the Ballon d'Or winners of the decade (2010-2019)

The modern era has been blessed with some of the finest footballers of all time and the 2010s, in particular, will be remembered for centuries, as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, two players who are widely regarded as the greatest of all time, dominated the decade with their brilliance.

The Ballon d'Or, which is the most personal accolade in the world of football, was initially a FIFA showpiece but since 2016, France Football host the annual event, as the best footballers are judged based on their performances by journalists, national team coaches and captains from across the globe.

Messi and Ronaldo won 9 of the last 10 editions of the award, with Croatian maestro Luka Modric the only other player to win the Ballon d'Or aside from the pair in the 2010s. By winning the award in 2018, Lukita, as he's fondly referred to, became the first player since Kaka 10 year earlier to break the duopoly held by the pair, a mammoth achievement considering the era of dominance by the two fierce rivals.

Several players have come close to getting their hands on the coveted prize, and some have even cried foul after missing out on the award, as has been the case with Frank Ribery and Wesley Sneijder in the 2010s. Here, we try to rank each Ballon d'Or winner from the past decade, based on their performance in that said year, the competition faced and dominance on their way to picking up the prized accolade.

#10 Luka Modric, 2018

Real Madrid CF v Rayo Vallecano de Madrid - La Liga

By winning the award in 2018, Luka Modric became the Croatian footballer in the history of the spot to win the award and he did so in incredible fashion, as he spearheaded Real Madrid to their third successive UEFA Champions League triumph and lead the Croatian national team to a second-place finish in the 2018 edition of the FIFA World Cup, where he also picked up the FIFA Golden Ball for his exemplary showing in the tournament.

Modric is widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation and he beat Antoine Griezmann and Cristiano Ronaldo to the award in 2018, with Messi sensationally being ranked as the 5th best player in the world at the time, much to the dismay of football fans across the globe.

2018 Ballon d'Or 1st place - Luka Modric: 753 votes

2018 Ballon d'Or 2nd Place - Cristiano Ronaldo: 478 votes

2018 Ballon d'Or 3rd Place - Antoine Griezmann: 414 votes

#9 Cristiano Ronaldo, 2016

In 2016, Cristiano Ronaldo produced a stunning showing for club and country, as he won the Ballon d'Or for the 4th time in this career, which is the most of any European player in the history of the sport.

The Portuguese superstar was at his destructive best and scored goals at an almost unstoppable rate, as he carried Real Madrid to their second UEFA Champions League crown in as many years and topped it off with a stunning showing in UEFA Euro 2016, as Portugal defied the odds and won the tournament for the first time in their history, with Ronaldo as captain.

2016 Ballon d'Or 1st Place - Cristiano Ronaldo: 754 votes

2016 Ballon d'Or 2nd Place - Lionel Messi: 316 votes

2016 Ballon d'Or 3rd Place - Antoine Griezmann: 198 votes

#8 Lionel Messi, 2011

In what was a record-breaking season, Lionel Messi defied the odds and spearheaded Barcelona to the La Liga and UEFA Champions League double, as Pep Guardiola's side steamrolled sides on their way to an era of dominance domestically as well as in Europe.

The diminutive Argentinian picked up the award for the 3rd season running and was comfortably the best player in the world at the time, as the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and teammate Xavi Hernandez were nowhere close to his brilliance despite having sensational seasons themselves.

2011 Ballon d'Or 1st Place - Lionel Messi: 47.88% of votes

2011 Ballon d'Or 2nd Place - Cristiano Ronaldo: 21.6% of votes

2011 Ballon d'Or 3rd Place - Xavi Hernandez: 9.23% of votes

#7 Lionel Messi, 2010

Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or for the second time in his career in 2010, as he topped off his heroics in 2009 by winning the award for the second season running. While the Argentinian was joined on the podium by teammates Xavi and Andres Iniesta, with the trio playing a pivotal role in Pep Guardiola's tiki-taka driven Barcelona side that was seen as the gold standard of club football at the time, his victory was subject to controversy.

While Barcelona dominated club football at the time, Messi's award was met with a series of ill-fated comments, as he was blamed for Argentina's disastrous showing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as they failed to hit the ground running despite going into the tournament with a renowned sense of hope and optimism.

2010 Ballon d'Or 1st Place - Lionel Messi: 47.88% of votes

2010 Ballon d'Or 2nd Place - Andres Iniesta: 17.36% of votes

2010 Ballon d'Or 3rd Place - Xavi Hernandez: 16.48% of votes

#6 Cristiano Ronaldo, 2013

Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or in 2013 despite the fact that Real Madrid did not win a major trophy in the 2012/13 season. On a personal level, however, the Portuguese hitman was at his destructive best, as he scored 51 goals across all competitions to win the award for the second time in his career, after picking up the award in 2008 during his time at Manchester United.

The 2013 edition of the Ballon d'Or came with its fair share of controversy, as there have been reports that the voting lines were made open for a longer period than it should have, which may have affected the results. Frank Ribery, who was coming on the back of a sensational season with Bayern Munich, felt hard done by when he missed out on the award and has made his displeasure felt multiple times over the course of his career, as he played a pivotal role in the Bavarians' treble-winning season that year.

2013 Ballon d'Or 1st Place - Cristiano Ronaldo: 27.99% of votes

2013 Ballon d'Or 2nd Place - Lionel Messi: 24.72% of votes

2013 Ballon d'Or 3rd Place - Frank Ribery: 23.36% of votes

#5 Cristiano Ronaldo, 2014

While Atletico Madrid won the La Liga in the 2013/14 season, Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League for the 10th time in the club's decorated history, as the Carlo Ancelotti led side secured La Decima after a long wait. Ronaldo was at the forefront of the action, as he spearheaded their charge in Europe and produced a string of top-class performances on his way to winning the competition for the second time.

The current all-time top scorer in the history of the Champions League beat arch-rival Messi and Manuel Neuer to the award that year, which was also subject to a lot of controversy as Messi was adjudged the best player in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and Neuer won the tournament with Germany as one of their best players.

2014 Ballon d'Or 1st Place - Cristiano Ronaldo: 37.66% of votes

2014 Ballon d'Or 2nd Place - Lionel Messi Messi: 15.76% of votes

2014 Ballon d'Or 3rd Place - Manuel Neuer: 15.72% of votes

#4 Lionel Messi, 2015

In the 2014-15 season, Barcelona completed the La Liga and UEFA Champions League double under Luis Enrique, with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jr forming one of the most feared trios in the history of the sport. In doing so, Messi won the award for a staggering 5th time, a record that looked like it will not be equalled or broken until Cristiano Ronaldo did so in 2017.

The Argentine was joined in the podium by Ronaldo and teammate Neymar, who was adjudged to be the 3rd best player in the world at the time after playing a starring role in Barcelona's success that year.

2015 Ballon d'Or 1st Place - Lionel Messi: 41.33% of votes

2015 Ballon d'Or 2nd Place - Cristiano Ronaldo: 27.76% of votes

2015 Ballon d'Or 3rd Place - Neymar Jr: 7.86% of votes

#3 Cristiano Ronaldo, 2017

Cristiano Ronaldo was a man on a mission that year, as he scored goals for fun and led Real Madrid to a La Liga and UEFA Champions League double that year. There was a sense of inevitability with Los Blancos that year, as they would win games regardless of how they played and Ronaldo was on target more often than not, with Zinedine Zidane returning to the club as a manger to create history.

By winning the award in 2017, Ronaldo equalled Messi's tally, although the Argentine would go on to win it once again in 2019 and move ahead of him, the rivalry looks set to continue in the coming years, with the pair entering the twilight years of their careers.

With Messi coming second that year, Neymar was once again named the 3rd best player in the world, after which he sealed a controversial switch to Paris Saint-Germain in the following summer.

2017 Ballon d'Or 1st Place: Cristiano Ronaldo: 946 votes

2017 Ballon d'Or 2nd Place: Lionel Messi: 640 votes

2017 Ballon d'Or 3rd Place: Neymar: 361 votes

#2 Lionel Messi, 2019

Image result for messi ballon d'or sportskeeda

In what was his second-best calendar year till date, Lionel Messi became the first player in the history of the game to win the Ballon d'Or for the 6th time, as he pipped Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo to the award in 2019.

Van Dijk, who was aiming to become the first defender since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 to win the award, was beaten narrowly by someone who the Dutchman had regarded as the best player in the world, as the Argentine won the award by the narrowest margin in history, with the difference being a meagre 7 votes between himself and the Liverpool defender.

The fact that Cristiano Ronaldo was placed third ahead of Sadio Mane was also subject to a lot of controversy, as the Portuguese international did not have a great season, at least by his lofty standards.

2019 Ballon d'Or 1st Place - Lionel Messi: 686 votes

2019 Ballon d'Or 2nd Place - Virgil van Dijk: 679 votes

2019 Ballon d'Or 3rd Place - Cristiano Ronaldo: 467 votes

#1 Lionel Messi, 2012

Lionel Messi is widely regarded as the greatest player to grace the game and this fact was exemplified in 2012 when he scored a staggering 91 goals across all competitions that year to win the Ballon d'Or for the 4th season running.

Records are meant to be broke in sport but this one will take some breaking, as the Argentine attacker took matters into his own hands upon will and seemingly destroyed every team that came his way, as Barcelona established themselves as a force to be reckoned with under the tutelage of Guardiola.

2012 Ballon d'Or 1st Place - Lionel Messi: 41.60% of votes

2012 Ballon d'Or 2nd Place - Cristiano Ronaldo: 23.68% of votes

2012 Ballon d'Or 3rd Place - Andres Iniesta 10.91% of votes