A graphic posted by France Football shows the winner of the Ballon d'Or without Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Between them, Messi and Ronaldo have won a whopping 12 Ballon d'Or honours. The Argentine has an incredible SEVEN wins, taking home the award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, and 2021.
On the other side, the Portuguese player has five Ballon d'Or victories to his credit, taking home the prestigious honour in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017.
Since 2008, they have had a firm grip on the Ballon d'Or; Luka Modric is the only player to have managed to do so.
But if Messi and Ronaldo weren't present, who would have received the honour? In any case, France Football has compiled a list of the winners in the absence of the two football legends.
The accolade would have gone to Fernandes Torres of Liverpool in 2008. From 2009 through 2012, Barcelona's Xavi and Andres Iniesta would have alternated receiving two awards each year.
Franck Ribery and Manuel Neuer of Bayern Munich would have won the Ballon d'Or in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
In 2015 and 2017, Neymar would have received the individual award, while Antoine Griezmann would have received it in 2016.
The Ballon d'Or would have gone to Virgil van Dijk in 2019, making him the first defender to do it since 2006.
And finally, Robert Lewandowski would have won the award in 2021 instead of missing out on an almost likely Ballon d'Or in 2020 due to Covid-19.
See the complete list below:
Fernando Torres in 2008
2009 - Xavi
Andres Iniesta in 2010
2011 - Xavi
Andres Iniesta in 2012
Franck Ribery in 2013
- Manuel Neuer in 2014
Neymar in 2015
Antoine Griezmann in 2016.
Neymar in 2017
Virgil van Dijk in 2019
Robert Lewandowski in 2021
