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The forgotten men
Either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed every Ballon d'Or since 2007, but that could change this year with Luka Modric the current favourite to scoop the prestigious prize.
Who, though, are the greatest players to never win football's biggest individual award? Bear in mind that our list only covers the last 20 years, as up until the mid-1990s only Europeans were eligible for the gong.
12. Sergio Ramos
Discard your personal opinion of the Real Madrid skipper and you're left with a player who's won it all. The 32-year-old has had a hand (and the odd knee) in collecting every major honour for club and country, and has already earned 161 caps for Spain.
Defenders rarely win the Ballon D’Or, but what makes Ramos stand out from the rest is his exceptional technique and tendency to score decisive goals. He found the net in both of his first two Champions League finals to help his side to victory, but he’s never even made the podium for this award.
11. Ryan Giggs
Giggs is arguably the most successful club footballer all time, and definitely the most decorated in the history of Manchester United. His wing wizardry and eye for goal earned him a place in the PFA Team of the Year on six occasions, but the biggest individual prize of all eluded him.
What held Giggs back was the fact that his longevity was his most remarkable quality; he didn't really have one particularly astonishing season. Even so, you would’ve thought he might have made the top three during the 1999 Treble season, or when he won the Champions League for a second time in 2007/08.
10. Neymar
The Brazilian isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but even his most adamant critics can't deny his ability. At Barcelona he delivered some outstanding performances despite often being overshadowed by Lionel Messi, the most impressive of which was in the incredible 6-1 victory over PSG in his final campaign at the Camp Nou.
He’s also scored 60 goals for his country - two fewer than Ronaldo and 17 behind all-time record holder Pele - and surely would have won the Ballon d'Or by now if he wasn't playing in the Messi/Ronaldo era.
9. Philipp Lahm
Another who suffers for predominantly being a defender - although Lahm was so much more than that. At different stages of his career the German was arguably the best right-back, left-back and central midfielder for both club and country.
An intelligent, technically gifted player with a strong engine, Lahm was more than a utility man; he was the standout player of the golden German generation he captained to the World Cup in 2014, and consistently brilliant for Bayern Munich too.
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Ibrahimovic isn’t the greatest goalscorer (or player) of all time - although we wouldn’t say that to his face – but the Swede could claim to be the best scorer of great goals. Nobody puts the ball in the net quite like him, with his inventive style, imposing 6ft 5in frame and kung-fu dexterity.
Few players have succeeded in as many countries, either: Sweden’s record scorer, Ibrahimovic has won major honours in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France and England. His failure to ever feature in a Champions League final is a blot on his record which probably cost him a shot at the Ballon d'Or, although he’s still scored 48 goals in Europe's foremost competition.
7. Thierry Henry
With respect to Michael Owen, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2001, few viewers of the Premier League during the late 1990s and early 2000s would claim he was a superior player to Henry.
The Frenchman's pace, technique and goalscoring ability made him an unstoppable force at his peak, and he hung up his boots as Arsenal and France’s record scorer, having won a World Cup, Premier League and FA Cup Double and Barcelona Treble along the way. He came second to Pavel Nedved in 2003, but never won the Ballon d'Or.
6. Arjen Robben
Robben has suffered from the Messi/Ronaldo duopoly more than most, as he's arguably been the greatest gamechanger of his generation outside of the Ballon d'Or-guzzling pair. The Dutchman, now 34, has consistently wreaked havoc for PSV, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, winning the Champions League with the latter in 2013 and reaching the World Cup final three years earlier.
He was also one of the standout performers as the Netherlands finished third in Brazil in 2014, but despite all his achievements Robben has never finished higher than fourth in a Ballon d'Or vote.
5. Luis Suarez
The best traditional striker of his generation, Suarez’s hunger (no biting pun intended) has separated him from the rest as much as his ability to put the ball in the net. The Uruguayan came close to hauling Liverpool to the Premier League title in 2013/14, before helping Barcelona to their second ever Treble the following season.
Suarez has formed a brilliant relationship with Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou, demonstrating his selfish nature by allowing the Argentinian to take centre stage. However, while the ex-Ajax man is undoubtedly a world-class forward, it's difficult to win the Ballon d'Or if you're not even the best player at your club.
4. Gianluigi Buffon
Lev Yashin remains the only goalkeeper to have won the Ballon d’Or back in 1963, and if Buffon couldn’t match that achievement it’s hard to imagine who ever will.
Italy’s ‘Superman’ has displayed consistent brilliance since the mid-1990s, picking up more records than a dedicated vinyl enthusiast along the way. Buffon’s failure to ever get his sizeable hands on the Champions League is a rare mark against him, but should he win it with PSG he may well earn this prize as a lifetime achievement award of sorts.
3. Xavi
Xavi was the beating heart of arguably the greatest club side and the greatest national team the sport has ever seen. Yet despite his exploits for Pep Guardiola's Barcelona and the Spain outfit who won Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, the playmaker managed just three third-placed finishes in the Ballon d'Or ranking.
Messi and Ronaldo’s brilliance again has a big part to play, but Xavi defined Barcelona and Spain's style of play like no one else and it's a slight surprise he didn't finish on top of the global pile on at least one occasion.
2. Paolo Maldini
If even the great Maldini was never voted the world's best player, full-backs will surely never stand a chance. The Italian's peak years came before Messi and Ronaldo arrived on the stage, and it's not like Champions League heartache is to blame either - he won the competition no fewer than five times.
Maldini was a little hard done by not to claim the gong in 1994, when he won the Champions League and was one of the best performers at the World Cup. He came third that year, though, with attacking duo Hristo Stoichkov and Roberto Baggio preferred by voters.
1. Andres Iniesta
You can understand why goalkeepers, defenders and midfield schemers have struggled to challenge greater individual talents for the Ballon d’Or. But Iniesta was the complete package, a metronome and a magician who won it all for both club and country.
He scored the most vital goal in Barcelona’s Treble-winning season of 2009 against Chelsea, sending his side through to the Champions League final with a dramatic strike at Stamford Bridge, and also netted the crucial goal to win the World Cup for Spain in 2010. He's not exactly short of medals in his cabinet, but the elegant midfielder really should have had a giant golden football to keep in there too.
