The best XI of players to never win the Ballon d’Or

Each year, the Ballon d’Or, football’s most prestigious individual award, is handed to the player who has been the world’s best in the previous season. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work.

Players, managers and the media have voted on the Ballon d’Or, though they don’t always get it right. Now solely voted for by a jury of journalists from across the world, 2024’s event will hopefully be more representative of who truly deserves the award.

But plenty of players in the past have been disgracefully overlooked, from World Cup-winning goalkeepers to treble-winning shoo-ins.

With that in mind, we’ve put together a starting XI of the best players to have never won the Ballon d’Or. It’s worth noting that while Maradona and Pele would be on this list, neither player was ever eligible to win the award due to it only being open to non-European players since 1995, by which time Maradona was nearing the end of his career and Pele had long retired.

1

Gianluigi Buffon

Goalkeeper (best: 2nd 2006)

Only one goalkeeper in history – Lev Yashin – has ever won the Ballon d’Or, with the Soviet shot-stopper scooping the prize way back in 1963. Gianluigi Buffon arguably should have been the second.

In 2006, Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro was awarded the Ballon d’Or after captaining Italy to glory at the 2006 World Cup. While Cannavaro winning the prize wasn’t exactly a shock, Buffon was certainly worthy of it himself.

At the World Cup, the Juventus ‘keeper kept a record five clean sheets, conceding just two goals in the entire tournament, and made a match-saving save in extra-time of the final when he tipped a goal-bound Zinedine Zidane header over the bar.

2

Cafu

Right-back (best: =14th 2002)

In December 2020, France Football – the magazine that conceived the Ballon d’Or – published a Ballon d’Or Dream Team. Voted for by journalists, the idea was simple: create and crown the best team in football history.

Logically, you’d think it would be full of Ballon d’Or winners, no? Think again.

Pele and Maradona made the cut, as did Spanish midfielder Xavi – none of whom have ever won the Ballon d’Or. Brazilian defender Cafu, another player to have never won the award, was also included at right-back.

Cafu’s place in the team was no doubt deserved. He is the one of the greatest right-backs to ever play the game. So why did he never win the Ballon d’Or itself? Perhaps he was too overshadowed in Brazil in the Ronaldo era.

3

Paolo Maldini

Centre-back (best: 3rd 1994, 2003)

Paolo Maldini is your favourite defender’s favourite defender.

Take John Terry, for example. “I also hope that one day I will be as good as Maldini,” the Chelsea legend once said of the Italian. Or Rio Ferdinand: “Paolo Maldini, he’s the best,” he said recently.

Maldini is also your favourite attacker’s least-favourite defender – which is perhaps an even bigger compliment.

“Paolo Maldini is the best I’ve played against,” Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario once said of him. Zlatan Ibrahimovic once said: “Maldini was the best and toughest defender I ever faced. He had everything: he was a complete defender, who was strong, intelligent, and an excellent man-marker.”

However, despite him being revered by his peers, Maldini, who won seven Serie A titles and five European Cups during his career, never won the Ballon d’Or. He came closest in 1994 and 2003, finishing third on both occasions.

4

Virgil van Dijk

Centre-back (best: 2nd 2019)

If Maldini is everyone else’s favourite defender, then who is the Italian’s favourite defender? No, it’s not his former AC Milan teammate Alessandro Nesta, nor his Italy counterpart Cannavaro.

Instead, and perhaps surprisingly, it’s Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk.

“I have played with some of the greatest defenders like Nesta, Baresi, Cannavaro, but I feel I was unlucky not to pair with Van Dijk,” Maldini said of the Dutchman in 2022, as per transfer guru Fabrizio Romano. “Virgil will be the best defender in history of football soon.”

Now 33, Van Dijk has been one of the world’s most outstanding defenders over the past decade, winning almost everything there is to win with the Reds, including the Premier League and the Champions League. He finished second in the 2019 Ballon d’Or behind Lionel Messi, but has yet to scoop the prize himself.

5

Roberto Carlos

Left-back (best: 2nd 2002)

In 2002, shortly after Brazil had lifted the World Cup, Real Madrid legend Roberto Carlos came close to winning the Ballon d’Or, finishing second behind compatriot Ronaldo.

It’s difficult to argue that Roberto Carlos should have beaten Ronaldo in 2002 given that the striker was the tournament’s top scorer with eight goals, two of which came in the final against Germany. However, had it not been for his countryman’s exploits, the full-back would have been a deserving winner.

Widely regarded as the greatest left-back of all-time, “The Bullet Man” was renowned for his marauding forward runs, mazy dribbles, and, of course, trademark bending free-kick.

6

Xavi

Centre-midfield (best: 3rd 2009, 2010, 2011)

The lynchpin in what many people believe to be the greatest midfield trio of all time, Xavi was a truly exceptional deep-lying playmaker, (or regista, if you will) who was a master of controlling the tempo of matches with his unparalleled passing range and vision.

He saw space that other players simply didn’t, allowing him to turn seemingly innocuous moments into dangerous attacks in the blink of an eye.

The Spaniard finished third in the Ballon d’Or for three years running between 2009 and 2011, with Messi winning the top prize in each of those years.

7

Andres Iniesta

Centre-midfield (best: 2nd 2010)

Alongside Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Xavi were the heartbeat of the Barcelona and Spain teams that dominated world football between 2008 and 2012, winning the World Cup, European Championship, Champions League, La Liga, and countless other honours.

However, unlike Xavi, who ran things from deep, Iniesta had more of a prominent role in the final third. As such, he had some notable moments of glory, including his extra-time winner in the 2010 World Cup final. After that goal, Iniesta finished second behind Messi in the Ballon d’Or, a tale that has proven all too familiar over the years for many a player.

8

Kevin De Bruyne

Centre-midfield (best: 3rd 2022)

Kevin De Bruyne has arguably been the Premier League’s best midfielder for almost a decade now.

Since joining Manchester City in 2015, he’s steered City to six Premier League titles and a first-ever Champions League triumph, contributing 103 goals and 171 assists along the way.

It’s difficult to understand quite how, amid those achievements, he has never been awarded the Ballon d’Or, especially in 2018, when he starred as the club won the Premier League with a record points total of 100.

“The way he’s played it’s difficult to find one [better] in Europe,” City boss Pep Guardiola said of De Bruyne at the time.

9

Thierry Henry

Right-wing (best: 2nd 2003)

Not strictly a right-winger, but we had to put him somewhere; at his peak, Thierry Henry was simply unstoppable.

Fast, skilful, and with an unmatched eye for goal, the Frenchman scored 226 goals for Arsenal between 1997 and 2007, winning the Premier League’s Golden Boot a record four times and firing the Gunners to the title on two separate occasions. He was also a key man for his country, playing starring roles in France’s 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 triumphs.

Henry’s finest hour came in 2003/04, when he scored 39 goals in all competitions as Arsenal won the Premier League title without losing a game. His achievements, however, went unrecognised by Ballon d’Or voters, with the striker somehow finishing fourth behind Ronaldinho, Deco, and Andriy Shevchenko having been pipped by Pavel Nedved a year earlier.

10

Robert Lewandowski

Centre-forward (best: 2nd 2021)

Robert Lewandowski has been robbed of the Ballon d’Or on two occasions.

In 2020 after a stunning season in which he scored 55 goals in all competitions as Bayern Munich won the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup, the award was cancelled due to the pandemic.

The following year, the Pole then put up similar numbers, scoring 48 goals, but was controversially snubbed in favour of Lionel Messi, who had endured a hit-and-miss first season with Paris Saint-Germain.

It’s not too late for Lewandowski, however. This season, despite being 36, he’s already scored 17 goals in just 14 games for Barcelona thanks to his recent double in El Clasico. Keep going at that rate, and he may well find himself in contention next year.

11

Neymar

Left-wing (best: 3rd 2015, 2017)

Many will look back at Neymar’s career and wonder what could have been had he never left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.

At Camp Nou, Neymar had established himself as one of the finest and most exciting young players on the planet, scoring 105 goals in four seasons and winning eight major honours, including the Champions League and La Liga, all while dazzling the Barcelona faithful with his sensational trickery. During that period, he twice finished third in the Ballon d’Or standings.

From there, it looked like things could only get better for the Brazilian and he would go on to claim the golden ball, his efforts to stand apart from Messi in a different team did not go to plan. And while he was still superb during his time in France, he was perennially injured and never able to reach the same individual heights he did in Spain.