The greatest XI to have won the Ballon d'Or

Attacking Midfielder - Lionel Messi (Barcelona/PSG and Argentina)

Lionel Andres Messi - The greatest footballer of all-time, no debate.

Six-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina. He established himself as the greatest player of all time during his 17-year stint at Barcelona.

The Argentine made 786 appearances for Barcelona, scoring a resounding 672 goals and dishing out 305 assists. He is Barcelona's all-time top scorer, and also their top scorer in La Liga and Champions League as well.

Messi won an astonishing ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey Cups and four Champions League titles during his time in Spain. He also won a record six Ballon d'Or awards while in Spain, including four in a row between 2009 and 12. His exploits helped Barcelona become one of the greatest club teams in the game.

The Argentina captain also holds many stunning records to his name, the most notable being his 2012 season. Messi scored 73 goals that campaign, surpassing Gerd Muller's long-standing tally of 67 goals in the 1972-73 season. Messi also broke Muller's record for most goals in a calendar year (85), adding six more and taking the tally to a resounding 91 for the year.

Towards the later part of his career, Messi has played in a central attacking midfield role - slightly deeper than what he played earlier. That was done to maximise his playmaking abilities, and we have done the same with him in our hypothetical XI.

---

Wide Right - Alfredo di Stefano (Real Madrid and Spain)

Alfredo di Stefano was one of football's first global stars.

Alfredo di Stefano was an Argentine-Spanish player who played as a forward, and is widely remembered for his spell at Real Madrid. Di Stefano scored a scorching 216 goals in 282 appearances for Madrid, establishing himself as one of the best goalscorers in the game.

Di Stefano was Real Madrid's all-time top scorer, a record that was surpassed by Raul Gonzalez and then by Cristiano Ronaldo. The former Real Madrid player and coach is currently sixth in the La Liga all-time scoring list, and third in Real Madrid's list.

Very few may know this. But Di Stefano's move to Spain was one of the reasons why the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona got fiercer back in the day. He was due to sign for play for either club for two years apiece after moving from Colombia.

However, Barcelona were unimpressed, and sold their half-share to Madrid, who also agreed to pay Di Stefano 40% more than other players. What the player went on to do later for Los Blancos left a sour taste in the mouths of Barcelona fans.

Alfredo di Stefano won the Ballon d'Or award in 1957 and 1959. Those were the years when Real Madrid dominated football in Europe en route to becoming a mainstay in European competitions.

---

Wide Left - Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United/Real Madrid and Portugal)

Cristiano Ronaldo caught in the act as he belts out his iconic "SIIIIUUUUUUU" celebration.

Cristiano Ronaldo began his career at Sporting CP in Lisbon, where he made an instant impact with his pace and trickery. He was spotted by Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United scouts when the Portuguese side faced them in a friendly. Ferguson, urged by his own players, spent a large fee to bring the talented boy to the stage that eventually made Cristiano Ronaldo a superstar.

Ronaldo scored a stunning 42 goals and provided ten assists in 49 appearances in the 2007-08 season for United. The club won the UEFA Champions League and the Premier League that season as Ronaldo scored a record 31 league goals.

His exploits earned him the first Ballon d'Or award of his career in 2008. Following that season, he moved to Real Madrid for a then world-record £80 million fee. There, he scaled greater heights.

The Portugal captain scored a scintillating 450 goals and provided 190 assists in 438 games for Real Madrid. He won four Ballon d'Or awards with the Spanish giants in a nine-year spell. Ronaldo won four Champions League titles, three of them back-to-back between 2016 and 2018. He also won two La Liga titles and two Copa del Rey trophies with the club.

Cristiano Ronaldo is also Portugal's all-time top scorer with 115 goals in 184 appearances. He helped his nation win the Euros in 2016 as well as the UEFA Nations League in 2019. Ronaldo's ability to lead from the front is the main reason he makes our hypothetical XI with ease.

---

Striker - Ronaldo Nazario (Barcelona/Inter Milan/Real Madrid and Brazil)

The player, the hairstyle, the smile, the celebration. Ronaldo Nazario is a football icon.

Ronaldo, like his namesake, was one of the most gifted and prolific strikers to play the game of football. He had the dribbling ability, pace, power, a venomous strike and great balance that helped him rack up several goals for club and country.

Ronaldo began his career with Cruzeiro in Brazil, before being scouted by PSV Eindhoven and moving to the Netherlands in 1994. His tally of 42 goals in 46 appearances for PSV caught the eye of Barcelona, who signed the Brazilian in 1996.

He went on to score 47 goals and provided 17 assists in 49 appearances for Barcelona that season. The highlight of his goals was the way he rounded the keeper to slot into an empty net. His efforts won him the Ballon d'Or award in 1997. That made him the youngest Ballon d'Or winner in history.

Ronaldo also went on to play for Real Madrid later in his career, where he won his second Ballon d'Or award in 2002. That was motly owing to his eight goals and one assist en route to Brazil's fifth FIFA World Cup triumph.

His final career tally stands at 295 goals and 99 assists in 453 appearances across competitions. Ronaldo's sheer ability in and around the box to score or create opportunities for teammates made him irreplaceable for his teams and in our hypothetical XI as well.

---

Final formation

We have chosen a modified 3-4-3 for our hypothetical Greatest Ballon d'Or XI.

Sportskeeda Football's Greatest XI to have won the Ballon d'Or