Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi could both have had one Ballon d'Or less

Are we about to see the end of an era?

The recent change in rules and format of the Ballon d’Or since France Football ended their partnership with FIFA means that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will go down in history as the only players to have won the FIFA Ballon d’Or since FIFA’s association with the award began in 2010. 

The new rules announced by France Football mean that the competition has reverted to how it used to be before the FIFA merger. The Ballon d’Or shortlist will be expanded to 30 players, and the top three players with the most votes will not be announced before the presentation of the award. The voting process for the award will no longer include coaches and captains of national teams as it did under the FIFA rules, and the voting will be done by a select group of journalists, as it used to be.

If the earlier rules had remained in place over the last six years, both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo would have one Ballon d’Or less each. Messi won the award five times in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015, while Ronaldo won it three times in 2008, 2013 and 2014. 

If the old rules were applicable at the time, Wesley Sneijder would have won the award in 2010 instead of Lionel Messi. That year Sneijder won the Champions League with Inter Milan and got a silver medal in the World Cup with Netherlands. The Dutchman received 293 points from journalists during the Ballon d’Or voting process. Iniesta was second with 291 and Xavi was third on 229. Lionel Messi received even fewer than that, finishing fourth in the list.

In 2013 the Ballon d’Or would have gone to Franck Ribery, and not Cristiano Ronaldo. The Frenchman won everything there was to win that year with Bayern Munich. In the voting of the Ballon d’Or that year Ribery amassed a huge 524 points from the journalists, while the actual winner of the award Cristiano Ronaldo was some way behind with only 399 points to his name. Messi was third with 364. Ribery did win the UEFA Best Player in Europe award, but lost out on the Ballon d’Or.

With the old rules now reinstated and the award reverting to its old format, it may signal the end of an era. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have shared the Ballon d’Or between themselves over the last nine years as though it was their birthright, but we may be about to see that change soon.