But football loves a plot twist. A new club, a new environment, a new manager, and suddenly the laughing stock became the best player in the world.
And like every year, the moment the award was announced, the debates lit up. Some cried that Lamine Yamal deserved it. Others swore it should have been Raphinha. But underneath the noise is a bigger truth. Football history is filled with giants who somehow never held the golden ball.
Here are the top 10 greatest players to play this game without ever being crowned Ballon d’Or winner.
🔟 Zlatan Ibrahimovic- The One-Man Circus 🎩⚽
Only six players in history have won more trophies than Zlatan. Eleven league titles in four different countries. Third-highest scorer of this century behind only Messi and Ronaldo. 62 international goals for an unfancied Sweden.
Zlatan’s lack of a Champions League medal always counted against him, but his football was box office. A bicycle kick from 35 yards against England. Taekwondo goals that defied physics. A personality bigger than any club he played for.
Plenty of legends could have claimed this spot like Totti, Bergkamp, Buffon or Eto’o, but only Zlatan made the impossible possible. A one-of-a-kind genius who left us as entertained as he left defenders embarrassed.
9️⃣Sadio Mane - Africa’s Relentless Star 🌍🔥
Few players embodied hunger like Sadio Mané. From humble beginnings in Senegal to Anfield glory, he became one of the deadliest forwards of his generation.
Between 2016 and 2025, Mane recorded 244 goals and 121 assists. He delivered when it mattered most, dragging Liverpool to Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, and peaking in the 2021–22 season when many felt he should have edged Karim Benzema for the Ballon d’Or.
Liverpool fans will never forget his work rate, his cool finishing, his ability to rise in the biggest moments. For Africa, he was a symbol of excellence, following the path of George Weah but never quite crossing that Ballon d’Or finish line.8️⃣Paolo Cesare Maldini - The Eternal Captain 🛡️👑
AC Milan’s heartbeat for 25 years. Five-time Champions League winner. Seven-time Serie A champion.
Maldini wasn’t just a defender. He was poetry at the back, a master reader of the game, unflappable in one-v-one duels, versatile enough to dominate as both a left-back and centre-back.
Yet somehow, in all those glorious years, he only reached the Ballon d’Or podium once. Football rarely rewards defenders, but Maldini deserved more. His name is etched in immortality regardless.
7️⃣Luis Alberto Suarez Díaz – Chaos, Goals, Greatness 🦷🔥
Luis Suárez was pure chaos wrapped in world-class finishing. At Liverpool, he nearly dragged them to a Premier League title in 2013–14 with 31 goals. At Barcelona, he became the perfect third of the legendary MSN trio, scoring 59 goals in one season.
But Suárez’s controversies, the bans and the infamous bites, always overshadowed his brilliance. He never cracked the Ballon d’Or top three, which feels criminal given his impact.
When Suárez was locked in, defenders couldn’t breathe. He wasn’t just a striker, he was a storm.6️⃣Wayne Mark Rooney - The Underrated English Icon 🏴
Robbie Savage once called Rooney “the most under-appreciated footballer we have seen in English football.” He wasn’t wrong.
Rooney burst onto the scene at 16, bullied grown men at Euro 2004, then carried the weight of Manchester United and England for more than a decade. United’s all-time top scorer with 253 goals. Five-time Premier League winner. A Champions League medal. A captain for club and country.
And yet, his best Ballon d’Or finish was fifth. Rooney was often scapegoated when things went wrong, but his highlight reel, the volley against Newcastle or the derby overhead kick, proves he was a generational talent. England may never see another quite like him.5️⃣ Xavier Hernandez Creus – The Puppet Master 🎭
Barcelona and Spain’s heartbeat. The man who dictated football’s tempo for nearly two decades.
Between 2009 and 2012, Xavi finished third in the Ballon d’Or voting three straight years, forever stuck in Messi’s shadow. Yet without Xavi’s orchestration, neither Barça’s tiki-taka nor Spain’s golden era would have existed.
Ander Herrera once said: “There won’t be another player like him.” He was right. Xavi didn’t just play the game. He conducted it.4️⃣Robert Lewandowski - The Robbed One
No player has been more cruelly denied than Lewandowski. In 2020, after scoring 55 goals and leading Bayern to a treble, he was the undisputed favourite. France Football cancelled the award because of COVID. The moment was stolen.
The following year, despite 62 goals, he finished second to Messi. A joke.
Still, Lewy’s legacy is untouchable. 30 or more league goals in five Bundesliga seasons, Poland’s all-time top scorer, and over 600 career goals. The perfect striker who deserved his Ballon d’Or and might still win it if Barcelona return to Europe’s summit.3️⃣Neymar da Silva Santos Junior – The Wasted Crown 👑🇧🇷
Neymar should have been the heir. He had it all: flair, ice-cold finishing, the swagger of a superstar. At Barcelona, he produced 181 goal contributions in 186 games. He was third in the Ballon d’Or twice, in 2015 and 2017.
Then came Paris. The world-record move. The injuries. The parties. Ligue 1 dominance that nobody respected. By the time he left PSG, Neymar felt like an artist who never finished his masterpiece.
Still, when he was on song, that goal against Croatia in the 2022 World Cup or the dazzling runs for Brazil, he reminded us why he was once tipped as Messi’s successor. Neymar’s story is brilliance mixed with what could have been.2️⃣Thierry Daniel Henry – The Premier League’s King 👑⚡
No player made football look smoother than Henry. Signed for £11m from Juventus, he became Arsenal’s greatest-ever player with 226 goals, four Golden Boots, two league titles, and leader of the unbeaten Invincibles.
In 2003, he produced one of the finest seasons in history with 32 goals and 20 assists, yet lost the Ballon d’Or to Pavel Nedvěd.
Henry was more than stats. He was aura. When he glided past defenders, it felt like art. Arsenal fans were spoiled to witness it. France fans saw him lift a World Cup and European Championship. And yet, somehow, he never lifted the Golden Ball.1️⃣. Andres Iniesta Lujan – The Artist 🎨🧠
David Silva once said: “For me, Iniesta is No.1.” Pep Guardiola called him “the master of time and space.”
Iniesta wasn’t just a midfielder. He was a magician who bent games to his will with elegance. He scored in Spain’s World Cup final, broke Chelsea hearts at Stamford Bridge, and orchestrated Barcelona’s most beautiful football.
He finished second in the 2010 Ballon d’Or, third in 2012, and France Football later admitted leaving him off the winners’ list was a “democratic anomaly.”
But Iniesta never needed the award. His magic was enough. For purists, he was football’s Picasso and perhaps the greatest player never to win the Ballon d’Or.
