Who has won the Ballon d’Or more times, Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?
They are considered two of the best players of all time, and some even think they are the two best footballers ever. But who has won the trophy more times?
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. These two names often come up when soccer fans are asked about who’s the greatest footballer that has ever lived.
And when the Argentinian and the Portuguese superstars are mentioned, comparisons in terms of number of goals, memorable plays or titles won appear also show up. And one of those distinctions is the Ballon d’Or.
Awarded by the French publication France Football, it is considered the most prestigious individual award in world football and is synonymous with being crowned the best player in the world.
Who has more Ballon d’Or trophies: Messi or Cristiano?
Messi and Cristiano have dominated the award ceremony for over a decade. The player with the most Ballon d’Or trophies ever is Messi, who has won it seven times, all as a Barcelona player, while CR7 has lifted the trophy five times, four of them playing at Real Madrid and one as a ‘Red Devil’.
They have won 12 Ballon d’Or awards combined, including 10 in a row from 2008 to 2017. Cristiano, however, has had more second-place finishes, finding himself as runner-up in six editions, while ‘La Pulga’ finished second on five occasions.
Of their 11 combined second-place finishes, seven came as runner-ups to the other. All five of Messi’s second-place finishes came behind Ronaldo.
Nobody aside from them has won more than three trophies. Dutch star Johan Cruyff became the first to accomplish it in the 1970s. After that, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten won it three times too.