10 legendary footballers who have never won the Ballon d'Or
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo picked up the 2017 Ballon d'Or to level Lionel Messi's record of five wins. The two footballers have been locked in an epic battle for supremacy that has seen them consistently outdo their own records and perform at the highest possible level for close to a decade.
Unfortunately for other players in the world, the gulf between the top two and the rest has been quite evident for a while, as can be seen in their dominance of the Ballon d'Or. The last player to win it who wasn't either Messi or Ronaldo was AC Milan's Ricardo Kaka in 2007.
In the 10 years since, half a generation's worth of players have achieved significant things and put in some extraordinary performances, only to be overshadowed by the seemingly inexhaustible wealth of talent that Messi and Ronaldo possess.
The following list mentions high profile players who failed to win the coveted trophy during their peak years, in spite of being worthy of the award.
#10 Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard is widely considered to be one of the greatest Chelsea players of all time and the English midfielder has won 13 major trophies with the Blues over the course of his time at Stamford Bridge.
Lampard joined Chelsea in 2001 and quickly became a mainstay in the first-team, making over 648 appearances and scoring 211 goals for the club, making him the club's all-time leading goalscorer.
Perhaps Lampard's best moment in a Chelsea came against Bayern Munich in 2012 as Chelsea overcame all odds to win the Champions League. Lampard was also a part of Britain's 'golden generation' of football, along with the likes of Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney.
A conspicuous lack of international honours could explain why he never won the Ballon d'Or, in spite of finishing in second place behind Ronaldinho in 2005.