The Ballon d’Or winner is chosen on the basis of a combination of votes from journalists, national team captains and coaches. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have exercised a duopoly of sorts over the Ballon d’Or over the past decade and more.

The pair have won 11 of the last 12 Ballon d’Ors. Messi is widely tipped to win a record seventh Ballon d’Or this year. The award was canceled in 2020 in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The race for the award is more open this term than it has been in recent years. The Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place on Monday and there’s no predicting which way this one’s going to go.

But before that, let’s take a look at the players who finished inside the top five in the race for the Ballon d’Or in each of the last five editions of the award.

Ballon d’Or 2015: Winner - Lionel Messi

  1. Lionel Messi - 41.33% votes

  2. Cristiano Ronaldo - 27.76% votes

  3. Neymar Jr. - 7.86% votes

  4. Robert Lewandowski - 4.17% votes

  5. Luis Suarez - 3.38% votes

Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or in 2015 quite comprehensively. He got 41.33% of votes. As you can see, the famed MSN trio (Messi, Suarez and Neymar) made it to the top 5 of the 2015 Ballon d’Or race. The trio ran riot in the 2014-15 season and led Barcelona to a continental treble.

Messi scored 58 goals and provided 31 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for the Catalans in the 2014-15 season. Ronaldo’s numbers were just as extraordinary though. He had scored 61 goals and provided 23 assists in 54 appearances across all competitions for Real Madrid that term.

However, a lack of major trophies ultimately proved to be a stumbling block for Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for the Ballon d’Or.

Ballon d’Or 2016: Winner - Cristiano Ronaldo

  1. Cristiano Ronaldo - 745 points

  2. Lionel Messi - 316 points

  3. Antoine Griezmann - 198 points

  4. Luis Suarez - 91 points

  5. Neymar Jr. - 68 points

Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Real Madrid to their 11th Champions League title in 2016. He also won the Euro 2016 title with Portugal and was head and shoulders above his competition in the race for the Ballon d’Or.

Ronaldo was in irrepressible form for Real Madrid during the 2015-16 season, scoring 51 goals and providing 15 assists in 48 appearances across all competitions. He also scored three goals and provided three assists in seven appearances for Portugal at Euro 2016.

Ballon d’Or 2017 - Cristiano Ronaldo

  1. Cristiano Ronaldo - 946 points

  2. Lionel Messi - 670 points

  3. Neymar Jr. - 361 points

  4. Gianluigi Buffon - 221 points

  5. Luka Modric - 84 points

Cristiano Ronaldo matched Lionel Messi’s then tally of five Ballon d’Or awards by winning the prestigious prize in 2017. He led Real Madrid to a second consecutive Champions League title that year. The Portuguese international also won the La Liga title that year.

Messi clocked slightly better numbers but only had the Copa Del Rey to show for it. He scored 54 goals and provided 20 assists in 52 appearances for Barcelona across all competitions. Ronaldo scored 42 goals and provided 12 assists in 46 appearances across all competitions for Los Blancos.

But Ronaldo’s contributions proved to be more telling than his eternal rival’s and this allowed him to win a fifth Ballon d’Or.

Ballon d’Or 2018: Winner - Luka Modric

  1. Luka Modric - 753 points

  2. Cristiano Ronaldo - 478 points

  3. Antoine Griezmann - 414 points

  4. Kylian Mbappe - 347 points

  5. Lionel Messi - 280 points

After breaking into the top 5 in the 2017 Ballon d’Or race, Luka Modric pipped club teammate Cristiano Ronaldo to the award in 2018. He was in great form for both club and country. Modric played a crucial role in Real Madrid’s third consecutive Champions League title win in 2018.

He was also Croatia’s best player as they made it to the finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Lionel Messi only just about made the top 5 that year despite winning the La Liga title and the Copa Del Rey.

Ballon d’Or 2019: Winner - Lionel Messi

  1. Lionel Messi - 686 points

  2. Virgil van Dijk - 679 points

  3. Cristiano Ronaldo - 476 points

  4. Sadio Mane - 347 points

  5. Mohamed Salah - 178 points

Three Liverpool players made it to the top five of the 2019 Ballon d’Or. The Merseysiders won the Champions League that year and Virgil van Dijk established himself as the best centre-back in the world. This was the closest Ballon d’Or race in a very long time but Messi ended up beating Van Dijk to the award by just seven points.

Messi won the La Liga title with Barcelona that year. He scored 51 goals and provided 22 assists in 50 appearances across all competitions for the Catalans in the 2018-19 season. In the end, that proved to be enough to earn him a record sixth Ballon d’Or.

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