At the 2022 Ballon d'Or edition, Cristiano Ronaldo placed 20th, tied for his worst placing in the competition. The veteran forward garnered zero votes, but still came in ahead of players like Harry Kane (21st), Bernardo Silva (22nd), and Joshua Kimmich (25th). Thus, he has matched his lowest position since 2005 when he tied with Liverpool's Jamie Carragher for 20th place.
In his comeback season with Manchester United, the five-time winner of the award scored 24 goals across all competitions but couldn't lead the club to any trophies. The Red Devils thus ended in sixth place in the Premier League with their fewest points ever, with CR7 and the rest of the team under intense scrutiny at various stages.
Even though he scored his 700th career club goal against Everton, the 37-year-old has struggled to get off the mark this season, scoring only two in all competitions. Adding insult to injury, he was punished by manager Erik ten Hag after refusing to participate as a substitute in the 2-0 victory over Tottenham at Old Trafford on Wednesday and so missed Saturday's 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Why Cristiano Ronaldo ended 20th on Ballon d'Or 2022 rankings with no votes
The jury for the Ballon d'Or did not award Cristiano Ronaldo any points. However, surprisingly, the Portugal captain only placed 20th out of 30 players.
France Football has made public a comprehensive breakdown of the voting procedure, which supports this theory. Recently, it came to light that the only reason he was given that position was because of previous nominations.
The 37-year-old received exactly zero votes from the panel of experts, making him one of 11 players to do so. Other notable players who didn't get any votes include Harry Kane, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo, Joshua Kimmich, Mike Maignan, Christopher Nkunku, Darwin Nunez, and Antonio Rudiger.
For Ronaldo, who last won the Ballon d'Or in 2017, finishing in this position in the race for soccer's most coveted individual accolade is not a great look. After finishing in the sixth position the year before, this nomination keeps him in the running for the prize despite the fact that his competitor Lionel Messi was not even included in the final three.
