With all of the controversy following Rodri’s Ballon d’Or selection this week, we take a look back at some of the most contentious awards from recent memory.
The Ballon d’Or is the most prized individual award in football, crowning the world’s best player of the year. For nearly 20 years, it was dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, with one of the two generational icons winning the award for 10 consecutive seasons until a certain Croatian midfielder broke the streak in 2018.
Year after year, even during Messi and Ronaldo’s run of dominance, there have been debates around players who were more deserving of the award, and in some years, there have been hotly contested arguments about players being snubbed. This year was no different.
Despite Vinicius Jr. being favorited to win by pundits and top betting sites in the U.S. alike, it was Manchester City’s Rodri who took home the award on Monday night. In protest, the entire Real Madrid team reportedly did not make the trip to Paris for the ceremony, and outcries of robbery were strewn across social media.
There always seems to be a strong voice of dissent when it comes to an award of this magnitude. In the past, we’ve heard names like Robert Lewandowski, Thierry Henry, and Virgil van Dijk championed as deserving winners of the game’s most prestigious individual honor despite not having won.
Given the timing of Monday’s announcement, let’s take a look back at some of the biggest Ballon d’Or snubs of all time.
Robert Lewandowski (2020)
Now, this one seems very unfair. He wasn’t snubbed because the voters picked someone else, but because France Football, the organization that runs the awards, decided not to hand out the trophy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unjust, right?
Lewandowski won the Champions League, DFL Supercup, Club World Cup, Bundesliga, and the DFB Pokal with Bayern in the 2019-20 season, scoring a load of goals and collecting many individual awards along the way. But alas, Lewandowski’s Ballon d’Or did not come.
Thierry Henry (2003)
Pavel Nedved took home the trophy in 2003 after helping Juventus win the Scudetto and reach a Champions League final, albeit losing on penalties to AC Milan. But this certainly could’ve been Thierry Henry’s award, as from an individual standpoint, he was head and shoulders above Nedved. Henry amassed 24 goals and 25 assists, outrageous numbers, and still the only time someone has surpassed 20 in both categories in the Premier League. Yes, Arsenal and Henry didn’t win anything trophy-wise, but I think the Frenchman can feel hard done by, especially as he never ended up winning the award in his illustrious career.
Wesley Sneijder (2010)
2010 was a tough year for anyone who isn’t Spanish, and a tough time in general for anyone who didn’t play for FC Barcelona. If it wasn’t for Jose Mourinho and his Inter side, world football would have been completely dominated by the Spanish team. And it was that Inter side where Wesley Sneijder played such an integral part as they defeated Barcelona on their way to win the Champions League, alongside the Serie A and the Coppa Italia.
From there, the Dutchman helped his Netherlands side reach a World Cup final, this time losing to Spain. But regardless, Sneijder can feel slighted by being born at a time when Lionel Messi, Xavi, and Andres Iniesta were also playing football. It was the little Argentine who won it (again), but for Sneijder to not even make podium? That’s a snub, for sure.
Franck Ribery (2013)
Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2013 Ballon d’Or and yes, he was fantastic, scoring 61 goals during the season, but he had no trophies to show for it. This is an individual award, but team achievements definitely carry some weight, especially when certain individuals are integral to the success. Enter Franck Ribery, who was a focal point of a Bayern side who won the Bundesliga and the Champions League in which they beat Ronaldo’s Real Madrid in the semifinals.
Virgil Van Dijk (2019)
It’s that little Argentine again, getting in the way of other players’ success. Virgil van Dijk had a stellar 2018-19 season, cementing himself as the best center-half in the world. He played a crucial role in Liverpool’s 97-point Premier League season and Champions League triumph. Yes, Manchester City did beat them to the league, but that doesn’t take away the heights van Dijk reached this year.
Just as Liverpool’s stellar domestic season wasn’t good enough to take home the EPL title, van Dijk’s brilliance was outshone elsewhere. With 52 goals and 22 assists, Messi redefined video game numbers with Barcelona. But Liverpool brushed that Barcelona team aside in the Champions League in dramatic fashion, which boosts the argument for van Dijk, the only defender to finish in the top three in voting since Fabio Cannavaro won the award in 2006.
Cristiano Ronaldo (2018)
The 10-year dominance of this award from Ronaldo and Messi ended in 2018, when Luka Modric took the trophy home. But it can be argued that the Croatian wasn’t the only one who deserved it and that the Portuguese man can feel hard done by, despite having won the award five times prior, and in the previous two years.
Both at Real Madrid, Modric and Ronaldo were crucial parts of the club’s third straight Champions League title in 2018. Ronaldo, however, scored 44 goals in the season — in addition to 10 more with Portugal — which is an incredible number as usual. Whilst that isn’t Modric’s game, those numbers are hard to argue with. If it wasn’t for Modric being the talisman for Croatia on their road to the World Cup final where they lost to France, I firmly believe Ronaldo would have taken this award home instead.
