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

Modified Feb 25, 2020 15:08 GMT

The Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious personal award in football

#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

Edited by Zaid Khan