Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo has staved off stiff competition, to scoop the award for the ‘Greatest Ballon d’Or of all time’. As much was made official on Wednesday.
The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony of course took place earlier this week, with the name of Bayern Munich frontman Harry Kane ultimately etched into the history books.
All the while, though, votes were being counted for a separate fan prize, in the form of ‘The BOAT’.
This saw some of the greatest Ballon d’Or-winning campaigns ever pitted against one another, in a vote to decide which should be considered the very best.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi inevitably dominated the shortlist, having racked up 13 ‘Golden Balls’ between them.
And as alluded to above, despite the latter having racked up three more such awards over the course of his glittering career, it is Ronaldo who has secured for himself the ‘BOAT’.
The Portuguese’s iconic 2008 win has been named the greatest Ballon d’Or year ever, followed by Messi in 2012 in 2nd place.
Conor Laird – GSFN
