Ballon d'Or: Top 5 rankings in each of the last 5 years
The Ballon d'Or is without doubt the most prestigious individual prize in football. The award is presented by French news magazine France Football to honour the best performing individual in a calendar year.
The Ballon d'Or winner is chosen on the basis of a combination of votes from journalists, national team captains and coaches. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have exercised a duopoly of sorts over the Ballon d'Or over the past decade and more.
The pair have won 11 of the last 12 Ballon d'Ors. Messi is widely tipped to win a record seventh Ballon d'Or this year. The award was canceled in 2020 in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The race for the award is more open this term than it has been in recent years. The Ballon d'Or ceremony will take place on Monday and there's no predicting which way this one's going to go.
But before that, let's take a look at the players who finished inside the top five in the race for the Ballon d'Or in each of the last five editions of the award.
Ballon d'Or 2015: Winner - Lionel Messi
1) Lionel Messi - 41.33% votes
2) Cristiano Ronaldo - 27.76% votes
3) Neymar Jr. - 7.86% votes
4) Robert Lewandowski - 4.17% votes
5) Luis Suarez - 3.38% votes
Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or in 2015 quite comprehensively. He got 41.33% of votes. As you can see, the famed MSN trio (Messi, Suarez and Neymar) made it to the top 5 of the 2015 Ballon d'Or race. The trio ran riot in the 2014-15 season and led Barcelona to a continental treble.
Messi scored 58 goals and provided 31 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for the Catalans in the 2014-15 season. Ronaldo's numbers were just as extraordinary though. He had scored 61 goals and provided 23 assists in 54 appearances across all competitions for Real Madrid that term.
However, a lack of major trophies ultimately proved to be a stumbling block for Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for the Ballon d'Or.
Messi before the Ballon D’or award ceremony in 2015 https://t.co/vVYFQHX1ng
Ballon d'Or 2016: Winner - Cristiano Ronaldo
1) Cristiano Ronaldo - 745 points
2) Lionel Messi - 316 points
3) Antoine Griezmann - 198 points
4) Luis Suarez - 91 points
5) Neymar Jr. - 68 points
Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Real Madrid to their 11th Champions League title in 2016. He also won the Euro 2016 title with Portugal and was head and shoulders above his competition in the race for the Ballon d'Or.
Ronaldo was in irrepressible form for Real Madrid during the 2015-16 season, scoring 51 goals and providing 15 assists in 48 appearances across all competitions. He also scored three goals and provided three assists in seven appearances for Portugal at Euro 2016.
Cristiano Ronaldo's 2016 for club & country:
57 games
55 goals
17 assists
4 major trophies
1 Ballon d’Or
1 FIFA Best Player award https://t.co/Ut3ZTTFlR2