Football lovers from across the world have created a Super Ballon d’Or that is expected to settle the GOAT debate between Messi and Ronaldo.
Supporters have been torn following the creation and publication of “Super Ballon d’Or” rankings for the previous 32 years by a fan.
In the whole history of the game, the award has been given out once.
Alfredo Di Stefano, a legendary member of Real Madrid, was presented with it in 1989 to commemorate France Football magazine’s 30th birthday.
Only players from Europe were eligible to win it, and only one source announced the winner.
Di Stefano, an Argentine, won the award ahead of French star Michel Platini and Dutch legend Johan Cruyff thanks to his Spanish citizenship.
To honor the greats and accomplishments of players from the current period, many soccer fans have been pushing for the gong to return.
Some supporters, feel that the special award needs to be brought back to recognize the best player of the moment. Icons like Ronaldo and Messi will be included in this.
The list was computed and put together by an enthusiast on Reddit, ranking players entirely on their Ballon d’Or accomplishments since 1990.
Unsurprisingly, Messi is at the top of the list with seven Ballons d’Or, while Ronaldo is right behind him in second place.
And if his estimates are accurate, it puts the Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo GOAT debate to rest once and for all.
Messi, who last month finally won the World Cup, holds the record for most Ballon d’Or victories with seven to Ronaldo’s five.
The fact that the Argentina talisman topped the list, with several unexpected names making the top 30, should therefore come as no surprise.
The order of the players was determined by their performance in the Ballon d’Or voting during the previous three decades.
Though the Messi vs. Ronaldo argument dominated the conversation, other icons’ placement also sparked discussion.
Brazilian icon Ronaldo finished third, which led one observer to remark: “R9’s third-place finish just goes to demonstrate how much better he would have been than everyone else without the injuries.
Fans are surprised and divided about the rankings, with some arguing that specific players ought to be placed higher or lower on the list.
Here is the list.
- Lionel Messi
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Ronaldo Nazario
- Zinedine Zidane
- Andriy Shevchenko
- Roberto Baggio & Lothar Matthäus
- Hristo Stoichkov
- Robert Lewandowski
- Ronaldinho
- Rivaldo
- Kaka
- Luis Figo & Luka Modric
- Thierry Henry
- Andres Iniesta & Matthias Sammer
- Karim Benzema & Michael Owen
- Pavel Nedved
- Marco van Basten, Jean-Pierre Papin, George Weah, Fabio Cannavaro & Xavi Hernandez
- Dennis Bergkamp
- Neymar
- Raul
- Paolo Maldini.
- Jurgen Klinsmann, David Beckham & Gianluigi Buffon.
- Roberto Carlos
- Sadio Mane
- Davor Suker & Dejan Savićevic
- Darko Pančev, Salvatore Schillaci, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Deco, Predrag Mijatović, Oliver Kahn, Frank Lampard, Antoine Griezmann & Virgil van Dijk
- Didier Drogba & Kylian Mbappe
- Steven Gerrard, Kevin De Bruyne & Mo Salah
- Iker Casillas, Andrea Pirlo & Samuel Eto’o
- Luis Suarez, Jari Litmanen, Eric Cantona, Alessandro Del Piero & Gabriel Batistuta.
There is no assurance that this year will produce a Super Ballon d’Or. But if France Football decides to go through with it, it won’t be shocking if Messi wins, given that the superstar has won a phenomenal seven Ballons d’Or.
