The Ballon d’Or, given by France Football, is the supreme personal honor in football. However, its history is riddled with politics, oddball votes and blatant thefts which continue to get under fans’ skin today.
In recent years, we have been used to seeing the Messi-Ronaldo monopoly of the last fifteen years or so. Their incredible statistics eclipsed the rest of the competition. Even back then (and certainly now) there have been players whose influence on the sport was huge, but ultimately they will forever be referred to as “the legend…but no Ballon d’Or”.
Here are, in my opinion, the five most egregious examples of how the football world botched it.
1. Thierry Henry (France)
Thierry Henry – skysports.com
Years of controversy: 2003, 2004
Awardees: Pavel Nedvěd, Andriy Shevchenko
Thierry Henry was possibly the most well-rounded player to have ever played in the Premier League in the early 2000s. Sprinter’s pace, Brazilian-style technical ability and cold-blooded finishing of an assassin on hire.
Why Henry was screwed over: In the season 2002/03, Henry accomplished something unprecedented: 24 goals and 20 assists in the Premier League. This assist record was maintained for nearly two decades (De Bruyne eventually equaled it). Unbeatable. However, the 2003 Ballon d’Or was awarded to Pavel Nedvěd largely for getting Juventus into the Champions League Final. Then in 2004, when Arsenal ran the entire season without losing (“The Invincibles”), Henry was again leading the Premier League in goal scoring with 30 goals. Once again he was denied the Ballon d’Or award and it was awarded to Shevchenko who won Serie A with AC Milan.
Henry was punished for playing in an era when the Premier League was still looked down upon compared to Italian football, and he also never won the Champions League while at the height of his powers.
2. Andrés Iniesta (Spain)
Andrés Iniesta – fcbarcelona.com
Controversial year: 2010
Winner: Lionel Messi
2010 should have belonged to Spain. Vicente del Bosque’s Spain played near-perfect football and lifted their first-ever World Cup. Who was the hero of the final? Andrés Iniesta — that iconic late goal against Netherlands in extra time.
Why it stings: Traditionally, the Ballon d’Or in a World Cup year almost always goes to the standout player from the winner (Zidane 1998, Ronaldo 2002, Cannavaro 2006). But in 2010 the rules seemed to change. The votes got split between the two Spanish maestros — Iniesta and Xavi. Separately they both received fewer votes than Messi, who had an incredible club season but exited the World Cup in the quarterfinals with zero goals for Argentina. In 2018, France Football itself released a piece called “Forgive us, Andrés” admitting his omission as “a painful anomaly.”
3. Xavi Hernández (Spain)
Xavi Hernández -fcbarcelona.com
Dispute stretch: 2009-2011
Each time the winner was: Lionel Messi
While Messi was the main striker of the legendary Barcelona team, Xavi was the hand guiding and pointing it. He virtually created tiki-taka. He controlled tempo, created space and mastered time.
The robbery in detail: For three consecutive seasons, Xavi placed third in the voting. His misfortune was that his brilliance was too understated, too cerebral for the casual fan to see. He didn’t score many, he didn’t perform dazzling skills to appear in highlight reels. He merely completed 100 passes per match at a 95 percent success rate. In the era where the only thing that counted for greatness was goals, Xavi suffered. Without him, Messi would never have achieved what he did — but all the praise and accolades went to Messi.
4. Paolo Maldini (Italy)
Paolo Maldini – goal.com
Controversial years: 1994, 2003
Winners: Hristo Stoichkov, Pavel Nedvěd
Winning the Ballon d’Or as a defender is almost impossible (Cannavaro being the notable exception that proves the rule). Paolo Maldini was not just a defender; he was Mr. Football for 25 years.
Why they wronged him: In 1994, Milan crushed Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona 4–0 in the Champions League Final. Maldini was flawless. Then he led Italy to the World Cup Final only losing on penalty kicks. What a perfect year for a defender to win. But instead, the award went to Bulgarian forward Stoichkov. Jump ahead to 2003 — Maldini, already 35, leads Milan to another Champions League trophy in his second youth. Finishes only third. The best defender of all time — still no golden ball.
5. Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
Robert Lewandowski – skysports.com
The robbed year: 2020
No winner (Award canceled)
The newest and perhaps the most cynical chapter. Season 2019/20 Lewandowski was a goal-scoring robot. Treble with Bayern (Bundesliga, Cup, Champions League) + top scorer in all three competitions.
What really happened: France Football decided to cancel the award due to Covid. Why? The season wasn’t “finished” (Ligue 1 was cut short, etc.). But every other big league finished, plus the full European campaign was played. They flat-out took Lewy’s largest moment away. Then in 2021, he broke Müller’s Bundesliga record with 41 goals…. but by then public momentum had already turned toward Messi after the Copa America. They gave him a consolation “Striker of the Year” award that felt like a hasty apology.
