Every player who would have won the Ballon d'Or if Messi and Ronaldo never existed

Every player who would have won the Ballon d'Or if Messi and Ronaldo never existed 

Here is a list of every player who would have won the Ballon d'Or if Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had never existed. 

Messi and Ronaldo have dominated the prestigious Ballon d'Or award since 2008, sharing it solely between themselves. 

They have won this award in combination a total of 13 times, with the Argentine being declared its winner eight times and the Portuguese five times. 

Messi won his eighth Ballon d'Or in 2023, beating Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe in the competition. 

As for the former Real Madrid star, he last won this award in 2017 when Messi and Neymar were also in the running. 

But, if Messi and Ronaldo had not existed, then names like Haaland and Neymar would have laid their hands on the Ballon d'Or. 

Fernando Torres, who scored 33 goals in 46 games for Liverpool during the 2007/2008 season, finished third in 2008, meaning he would have won the award. 

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Barcelona legends Xavi and Iniesta would have competed with each other for the Ballon d'Or between 2009 and 2012. 

Franck Ribery would be declared the winner of the Ballon d'Or in 2013 and Manuel Neuer would win it in 2014, making him the first goalkeeper since Lev Yashin (1963) to win the award. 

The full list of players who have been potential Ballon d'Or winners: 

2008 – Fernando Torres 

2009 – Xavi 

2010 – Andres Iniesta 

2011 – Xavi 

2012 – Andres Iniesta 

2013 – Franck Ribery 

2014 - Manuel Neuer 

2015 - Neymar 

2016 – Antoine Griezmann 

2017 - Neymar 

2019 – Virgil Van Dijk 

2021 – Robert Lewandowski 

2023 – Erling Haaland 

/Telegraph/