Sports23

My topics

News Sports23 Editorial 1 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo's 2008 Ballon d'Or Voted Best Ever by Fans

A one-euro-a-ballot poll crowned the Manchester United season that started Ronaldo's collection; Messi's 91-goal 2012 finished second.

Cristiano Ronaldo's 2008 Ballon d'Or trophy on display at the Real Madrid Museum, Santiago Bernabeu
Cristiano Ronaldo's 2008 Ballon d'Or, the edition fans have now voted the best in the award's 70-year history, on display at the Real Madrid Museum at the Santiago Bernabeu (museum photo). — Photo: Ank Kumar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

France Football announced on October 28 that Cristiano Ronaldo's 2008 Ballon d'Or, the first of his five, has been voted the greatest edition in the award's 70-year history. The one-off poll, branded B.O.A.T. (Ballon d'Or of All Time), put Lionel Messi's 2012 win second and Ronaldo's 2017 third.

A fan vote, not a jury

The Ballon d'Or itself is decided by a panel of journalists. The B.O.A.T. was not: it was an open ballot on France Football's website where every vote cost one euro, with no cap on how many times a supporter could pay. That detail matters. The result reflects which fanbase mobilized and spent hardest, not what the award's professional jury thinks.

Only players with at least two Ballon d'Ors were eligible, leaving a field of ten. That rule explains the two famous absences: Pele and Diego Maradona never won the trophy (non-European players were ineligible during their careers), so no edition of theirs was on the ballot.

The podium

  • 1st, Cristiano Ronaldo, 2008. His first Ballon d'Or, earned after a 42-goal season in which Manchester United won the Premier League and the Champions League.
  • 2nd, Lionel Messi, 2012. The year Messi scored a record 91 goals and collected his fourth consecutive award.
  • 3rd, Cristiano Ronaldo, 2017. His fifth and most recent win, after Real Madrid completed a La Liga and Champions League double.

Editions belonging to Ronaldo and Messi fill the first 12 places between them. The highest-placed season from anyone else is the 2002 triumph of Ronaldo Nazario, in 13th.

Why people are arguing about it

Charging one euro per ballot, and allowing unlimited repeat votes, turned the poll into a spending contest between fanbases, and critics said so immediately. Real Madrid's official website celebrated the outcome and Spanish dailies Marca and AS covered it, but the B.O.A.T. is a fan accolade run by France Football, not an official re-ranking by the award's jury.

The timing is hard to miss. The result landed two days after Harry Kane won the actual 2026 Ballon d'Or, England's first winner in 25 years, under the traditional journalist vote.

Related posts