21 Greatest Footballers to Have Never Won the Ballon d'Or [Ranked]

· GiveMeSport

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and Barcelona icon Andres Iniesta are among the 20 greatest players to have never won the Ballon d'Or.

The Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual award in football. Although its origins lie solely within European football, it is now widely recognised as the prize awarded to the best player on the planet each year. From the late 2000s through the 2010s, the award was largely dominated by two men: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Due to the dominance of this duo and some other debatable winners in previous years, several top-tier talents have failed to get their hands on the golden ball. Players like Wesley Sneijder have been vocal about feeling robbed, while others have been more reserved.

In 2026, it looks set to be an ever closer contest, with key names like Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe all in the running. None of that trio has won the award before, but the losers won't be the first star players to miss out.

With that in mind, GIVEMESPORT has ranked the 21 greatest players never to have won the Ballon d'Or, based on key criteria.

To be considered, players must have been active since 1995, the year the Ballon d'Or began accepting non-European players as candidates. Players who missed out on the award before non-European players who played in Europe were eligible, will not be considered.

If it wasn't for the two all-time greats, these 10 stars would have got their hands on at least one Ballon d'Or each.

Another Brazilian who came with hype to La Liga, Vinicius Jr arrived at Real Madrid from Brazilian side Flamengo seven years ago. He has made the first-team spot his own on the left wing in those years, with more than 100 goals to his name in all competitions.

His best season was the 2023/24 campaign, scoring in the Champions League final and notching 24 in the season, his best to date. However, he was beaten to the title by Rodri - which saw Madrid chiefs snub both the 2024 and 2025 ceremonies in a show of solitude to the tricky winger. Since then, his career has yet to hit the same heights, but there is plenty of time in his career yet to challenge for the award once more

Gareth Bale, it can be argued, was the world's best player in 2012/13 at times when playing for Tottenham Hotspur - but their lack of trophies rightfully means that he wasn't selected in that cohort of top players and he ended up finishing ninth.

What does see him as one of the greatest players never to win the Ballon d'Or was his campaign in 2015/16. 19 goals in just 23 La Liga games saw them finish second, although Los Blancos won the Champions League after a penalty shootout win over rivals Atletico. Furthermore, Bale became Wales' go-to man as he dragged them to the EURO 2016 semi-finals against the odds. But his tally of zero goals in the Champions League campaign and their lack of a domestic league gong meant he missed out, tailing off from there.

Totti is the ultimate one-club man. He turned down approaches from clubs such as Real Madrid to stay with his beloved Roma, featuring for the club in every season from 1992-93 through to 2016-17, making 786 appearances for the club and scoring 307 goals in the process, seeing him adored by every single fan who supports the capital outfit.

He came fifth in the 2001 competition, after Roma won the Serie A, scoring 16 goals for the club in all competitions. However, if he'd had a better season in the 2005-06 campaign for his club, having notched 17 in 29, which are still great numbers, his World Cup win could've seen him rank among compatriot winner Fabio Cannavaro.

Salah's fourth-placed finish in the 2025 Ballon d'Or once again highlighted how vital Champions League progression is to winning the award.

Salah got 34 goals in 52 games as the Reds won the Premier League, his second-best campaign in a Liverpool shirt - but it's his 44-goal campaign in 2017/18 that saw his best numbers go begging. Had they won the Champions League that season, there's no doubting he would've been in the mix and likely taken the award.

Haaland would have been one of the youngest Ballon d'Or winners in the competition's history had he won the gong in 2023. An outstanding first season at Manchester City, in which he scored 36 Premier League goals in 35 games as well as 12 goals in 11 games in the Champions League, saw the Cityzens win the sought-after treble.

Ultimately, Lionel Messi won the award after he eventually got his hands on a World Cup trophy, and Haaland was placed in second despite a record-breaking season with the maximum amount of trophies, barring international honours and the League Cup. If that's what it takes to come second, he may find it hard to ever come first.

It's perhaps understandable why Zlatan Ibrahimovic hasn't been crowned the King of Europe, as he likely wasn't the absolute best in the world at any single point. However, he was consistently among the elite for well over a decade. His longevity at the top, an impressive trophy haul, and his flair for the spectacular certainly put him in the conversation.

One major factor that worked against Zlatan is that he never appeared in a Champions League final – a significant achievement in the eyes of voters. Had he guided a team to European glory, perhaps the Swedish behemoth would have been another mercurial name like Ronaldinho to lift the prestigious award.

It is incredibly rare for defenders to be in contention for the title of the best player in the world. That accolade is usually reserved for the superstar attackers, who score the goals and earn the big bucks. The last defender to win the award was Fabio Cannavaro in 2006, but Virgil van Dijk has come the closest since.

The transformative Dutchman was a towering presence at the heart of Liverpool's defence. As he helped guide Jurgen Klopp's side to European and domestic success, Van Dijk came within seven points of preventing Messi from claiming his sixth title but fell agonisingly short.

Kylian Mbappe has been among the best players in the world for some time now. He was unlucky not to claim the 2018 Ballon d'Or as a teenager, after helping fire France to glory at the World Cup. He finished fourth in the rankings that year, with Luka Modric given the prize instead.

Since then, he's scored goal after goal for his country, as well as PSG and now Real Madrid. But he's not been able to win the Champions League or any major international trophies, which have damaged his chances each year. His best Ballon d'Or finish came in 2023, when he ranked third. Messi (the winner) and Haaland both placed above him in the final voting.

The never-ending Scholes vs Lampard vs Gerrard debate could arguably be decided by the fact that it is Lampard who came the closest to winning the Ballon d'Or in 2005, finishing second behind Ronaldinho. Though Liverpool fans would understandably argue that for his Istanbul heroics alone, their captain should've come higher.

For Steven Gerrard, toppling Ronaldinho would always have been a challenge. But the biggest prize in club football did fall into the hands of the tenacious midfielder, who was the instrumental force behind the greatest turnaround in European Cup history. Again, had he been at a club that won more domestically, maybe he could've been the first English player since Michael Owen to win the award.

One of the greatest goal scorers in football history, Robert Lewandowski is incredibly unlucky to have never won a Ballon d'Or. He was the overwhelming favourite in 2020. However, the ceremony was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Poland international had to settle for just the FIFA Best trophy instead.

Lewandowski had another phenomenal year in 2021, breaking records with 69 goals in all competitions for club and country. However, despite his incredible form, he narrowly missed out on the award to Messi. Now in his mid-30s, Lewandowski was nominated in 2025 but finished 17th in what was almost certainly his final shot at the prize.

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