"Those who competed with Messi for Ballon d'Or were Florentino Perez and not Cristiano Ronaldo" - When Ibrahimovic made bold claim in 2018

Known for flirting with controversy, former Sweden and Barcelona footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic made one of his most characteristic comments on Ballon d'Or in December 2018, according to Record.pt. The statement, which is doing the rounds once again, referred to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez's influence on it.

To give more depth to the incident, Luka Modric won the prestigious award in 2018, breaking a 10-year streak that saw Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi win the award five times each. During an interview, Ibrahimovic had suggested that Perez had a say in who the award went to.

"Now we know that the person competing with Messi for the Ballon d'Or was Florentino Pérez and not Cristiano Ronaldo," Ibrahimovic had said to Fox Sports back in December 2018.

Ibrahimovic’s comments insinuated that Perez had a more than significant role in promoting Modric’s candidacy for the 2018 Ballon d’Or. In a wider sense, the Swede meant to say that the usage of such influence by the Spaniard may have undermined the voting process. Ibrahimovic may have had the bigger issue of favoritism between clubs as well as the lobbying and politics that go with it in mind when he made these comments.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have won a combined 13 Ballon d'Or awards so far

Ronaldo and Messi, widely regarded as the best players in the world, have won a combined 13 Ballon d'Or awards so far. While Ronaldo has won the coveted prize five times, Messi holds the record with eight titles.

Ronaldo currently plies his trade for the Saudi Premier League club Al-Nassr while Messi plays for Inter Miami in the MLS. The former has scored a total of 16 goals and provided three assists in 19 matches for his club across competitions this season. Messi ended the previous season with 23 goals and 13 assists in 25 games across competitions.

Both players have defined an entire generation with their prowess on the pitch, with thousands of young footballers looking up to them for inspiration. Ronaldo's greatest achievement on the international stage was the European Championship title with Portugal in 2016. Messi, however, won the FIFA World Cup with Argentina in 2022. He also won the Copa America twice - in 2021 and 2024.