The pinnacle of every professional footballer’s career is being crowned the best player in the world. The Ballon d’Or winner is the legitimate honour that players can receive at the end of each calendar year, which signifies that they are the number one in the world. Players such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated this accolade for the past ten years, with shock winner Luka Modric being crowned last year.
However, this year offers to be the most open with Messi and Ronaldo getting competition from Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and PSG’s Kylian Mbappe. All the best betting sites in UK offer prices on the potential winner of the accolade with Messi, Ronaldo and van Dijk as the top favourites to win. However, throughout the years there have been some outstanding players who missed out on winning this award. Here are a few notable players that potentially should have won the honour in their prime.
Thierry Henry
The Frenchman won everything that there is to win in the game, but the closest he came to winning the Ballon d’Or were second and third places in 2003 and 2006 respectively. His career enabled him to be called the best foreign export in the Premier League and potentially the best striker to have ever played in England.
During his career, he won the Premier League twice, La Liga twice, the Champions League, three FA Cups, the World Cup and the European Championships. To top that off, he also retired as the all-time record goalscorer for Arsenal, where some of the greatest years of his career were spent.
Xavi
Xavi was unfortunate in the sense that he played in a brilliant Barcelona and Spain side where the players around him got most of the attention. He was the foundation of both successes, but the closest that he got to winning the illustrious prize was in 2008, 2009 and 2010. On all three occasions, he came third. Time will always look back and reminisce about his talents in the midfield of Barcelona, and he was the glue that stuck the side together.
His legacy will best be remembered for the 2009 Champions League campaign where he played every minute on their way to success in Rome against Manchester United. His passing ability was beyond belief, and his relationship with Messi and Andres Iniesta was a factor as they were called the best to have played in that game.
Andres Iniesta
Xavi’s partner in crime in the heart of the Barcelona midfield also should have won the Ballon d’Or during his career. He has significant moments throughout his career, but two stand-out more than most. The first was the goal that he scored in the World Cup final in 2010. His extra-time strike, which managed to see Spain see off the Netherlands, was one of the most iconic moments in sport. The same year was the closest that would get to winning the award as he finished second, behind Messi.
He is one of the modern greats in the sport with his “never say die” attitude and willingness to work hard showcased how special was the Pep Guardiola. Another significant moment for Iniesta came in the 2008-09 season where his last gasp strike was enough to see off Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Without that goal, the club wouldn’t have been able to go on and win the tournament that season. He will forever be remembered, but it is a shame that he was never awarded the honour.
