The Ballon d’Or shortlist looked a little different in 2024.
How France Football The magazine gradually released the 30 nominees in batches of five, with fans hoping to see at least Lionel Messi’s name after his Copa América victory over the summer, perhaps even Cristiano Ronaldo after his 50 goals for the ‘Al Nassr last season.
But when the last ones were revealedthere was no Messi… and neither was Ronaldo.
Ronaldo was less surprising. The 39-year-old had yet to feature in 2023 and objectively struggled to make an impact at Euro 2024 with Portugal, stressing that the Saudi Pro League is a step below the level he left behind in Europe.
Messi has also left European club football and moved to Inter Miami in 2023. But he still claimed the Ballon d’Or that year, rewarded by Argentina’s success at the 2022 World Cup. His absence total of the list of nominees was much more important. a shock
Messi, who is now 37 years old, would have gone for his ninth Ballon d’Or which extends his record. Ronaldo has won five and the pair who defined the last generation of elite football and are two of the greatest of all time, have 13 Ballon d’Or trophies between them.
Between 2008 and 2017, no one else won it. Since Kaka’s triumph in 2007, Luka Modric (2018) and Karim Benzema (2022) are the only players to break the duopoly.
Even then, Messi and Ronaldo were nominated both years. But since neither is 2024, it’s the first Ballon d’Or list without at least one of them since 2003.
Ronaldo was first nominated in 2004 following his debut season with Manchester United and his breakthrough with Portugal at that summer’s European Championship. At least one of them (usually both) has been on the short list ever since…until now.
The world of football was a very different place in 2003. Serie A was undoubtedly still king, although it permanently gave way to the Premier League and La Liga in the following years.
The Ballon d’Or was won by Pavel Nedved, who had driven Juventus in the Champions League final. The Czech winger finished considerably ahead of Arsenal striker Thierry Henry and AC Milan rock Paolo Maldini. Andriy Shevchenko and Zinedine Zidane completed the top five, while Ruud van Nistelrooy, Roberto Carlos and David Beckham made the top ten.
The overall list featured up to 50 players, nearly double the current roster, with 26 of them receiving at least one vote and the other 24 receiving none.
