There have been amazing football players over the years. Some of them have gone on to win the Balon d’Or while some despite being in a league of their own somehow never won the most prestigious individual award in football. The Messi/Ronaldo era overshadowed so many amazing players who played at levels that before Ronaldo and Messi burst onto the world stage would have won them a Balon d’Or.
We listed the best football players who never won the Balon d’Or. Let’s dig in.
1. ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI
Starting from the most recent, Robert Lewandowski comes to mind. Bayern Munich’s lockdown campaign in 2020 saw them win all the competitions they played in. They won the treble under manager Hansi Flick and went on to win the Super Cup and Club World Cup.
Robert Lewandowski had an amazing season scoring 55 goals in all competitions including 15 goals in the Champions League. It was clear he was the best player in the world that season and he was surely going to win the Balon d’Or. Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Balon d’Or ceremony was canceled that year and he had to make do with a FIFA The Best award.
Lewandowski did not let this discourage him as he scored 62 goals for Bayern Munich the next season and managed to get 580 votes for the Balon d’Or award. The votes were still insufficient as it was 33 votes less than Lionel Messi’s 613. Lionel Messi was awarded the 2021 Balon d’Or despite Lewy’s performance in the 2020/2021 season and he had to go home with the inaugural Gerd Muller Striker of the Year prize.
Lewandowski won the inaugural Gerd Muller Striker of the Year award in 2021
Lewandowski should have won at least one Balon d’Or for his performance in the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 seasons. Still, unfortunately, it didn’t happen and now it seems he may never get the chance to win football’s most prestigious individual award.
2. THIERRY HENRY
Many football fans still find it hard to believe that the legendary Frenchman never won the Balon d’Or. Henry was one of the best forwards of his generation and is regarded as one of the best to ever play the game. Henry won the FIFA World Cup, the Champions League, and the Premier League amongst other trophies.
The closest he came to winning the prestigious award was in 2003 when he lost out by 62 points to Juventus’s Pavel Nedved for his contribution to their Champions League and Serie A win. Henry’s stats that year were simply out of this world and were far ahead of Nedved’s. The Frenchman had 24 goals and 20 assists from 37 Premier League games being involved in over 50% of the Gunners league goals that season.
Pavel Nedved wins the Balon d’Or in 2003
He also lost out in 2004 to Andriy Shevchenko despite his pivotal contribution to Arsenal’s Invincibles team that won the league without losing a single game. Many fans still feel he was robbed in 2003 and 2004.
3. VIRGIL VAN DIJK
Generally, defenders hardly win the Balon d’Or. The last one to win it was Fabio Cannavaro back in 2006. Liverpool CB Van Dijk came close to winning the prestigious award in 2019 when he finished second behind Lionel Messi. His performance in the 2018/2019 season helped Liverpool win the Champions League and finish second in the Premier League. The team subsequently won the Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
His stellar performance saw him win the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, Premier League Player of the Season, and the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year yet it wasn’t enough for him to beat Messi to the prestigious award.
4. NEYMAR JR
Perhaps the biggest victim of the Ronaldo/Messi era is Neymar. The talented Brazilian would have won at least one Balon d’Or if Messi and Ronaldo didn’t exist. Playing on the same team as Messi didn’t help Neymar’s case either as the Argentinian would always outshine him. Everybody agrees that Neymar is a generational talent and one of the best to ever play the game. A complete footballer with the ability to dribble, pass, shoot, score goals, and give assists, Neymar can be a playmaker and in many cases affect the outcome of a game yet he always played second fiddle to Messi.
Perhaps, this is one of the reasons that influenced his monumental move from Barcelona to PSG in 2017. Sadly, this didn’t pan out for him as he was still unable to help PSG win the Champions League despite coming close many times. At a time he was being outshone by PSG youngster Kylian Mbappe.
Neymar signs for PSG in 2017
Neymar finally left PSG in 2023 to play for Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League and with that move went his chances of ever winning the Balon d’Or.
5. LUIS SUAREZ
Another victim of the Ronaldo/Messi hegemony is Luis Suarez. A generational talent regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation. Sadly, his peak coincided with the height era of Messi and Ronaldo’s dominance of world football. The number of goals he scored and assists almost always paled in comparison to the astronomical numbers Messi and Ronaldo were putting up.
One of Suarez’s best chances to win the award came in 2014 while playing for Liverpool. The Uruguayan broke the Premier League record for most goals scored in a 38-game season by scoring 31 goals and winning the Premier League Golden Boot. His goal helped Liverpool finish second in the League, losing out by two points to Manchester City. He was then edged out to the Balon d’Or by Cristiano Ronaldo that year who had been even more phenomenal than he was and won the Champions League.
Suarez moved to Barcelona in 2014 and along with Neymar and Messi formed one of the best front three of all time, scoring goals for fun. Messi still outshone him and went on to win more Balon d’Ors while Suarez never won any.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Other players who surprisingly never won the Balon d’Or include Andres Iniesta, Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, Paolo Maldini and even Ferenc Puskas. Iniesta suffered the same fate as Neymar and Suarez as he played on the same team and peaked at the same time as Lionel Messi.
Bayern Munich’s Ribery and Robben surprisingly never won the Balon d’Or despite wreaking havoc for such a long time in the Bundesliga and even after their treble-winning season of 2013. Ribery finished third behind Messi and Ronaldo who won the award in 2013 despite Real Madrid not winning a single trophy. To this day, many fans and pundits still believe Ribery was robbed.
Paolo Maldini suffered from defender tax. Arguably the best defender of his generation, Maldini never won the coveted award because of the position he played. His best finish came in 2003 when he finished third in the Balon d’Or rankings. It’s much easier for a forward to win the prestigious award than a defender because goals, assists and dribbles are easier to see and count than a defender’s impact and it is this bias that probably kept Maldini and by extension even Van Dijk from winning the award.
Ferenc Puskas
Despite being one of the best forwards ever and having an award named after him, Ferenc Puskas surprisingly never managed to win the Balon d’Or. He came closest in 1960 but was edged out by Real Madrid teammate Alfredo di Stefano.
Do you agree with this list? Who do you think we missed out?