Ballon d'Or post who would have won award had Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi not existed

A world without Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? INSANE! But the people of the Ballon d’Or wanted us to take that journey by posting on social media who would have won the award had the Argentine and Portuguese superstars never played the game.

In a strange way that is what is going to happen, given that CR7 is now in Saudi Arabia and Lionel Messi is due to sign with Inter Miami on Friday. The nominees for the award in 2023 are set to be announced on September 3rd and Lionel Messi could still bag his historic 8th Ballon d’Or.

So, who would have won the award in the years that Messi and Ronaldo took it home? They are still a who’s who of great soccer talents.

Ballon d’Or winners had Messi and Ronaldo not played

According to the voting in those given years here is the list of winners:

2008 – Fernando Torres
2009 – Xavi
2010 – Andrés Iniesta
2011 – Xavi
2012 – Andrés Iniesta
2013 – Franck Ribéry
2014 – Manuel Neuer
2015 – Neymar
2016 – Antoine Griezmann
2017 – Neymar
2019 – Virgil van Dijk
2021 – Robert Lewandowski