France Football has decided eight Ballon d'Or wins isn't enough — now they want to crown the greatest winner of all time. The BOAT (Ballon d'Or All Times) poll is live, and fans can vote for around $1.20 to decide which player's trophy haul actually stands above the rest.
Only players who've won the award at least twice are eligible, which narrows the field to exactly 10 names. Given that shortlist, this is essentially Messi vs. Ronaldo with eight witnesses.
The frontrunners
Messi's case is almost unfair to argue against. Eight Ballon d'Ors — 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2023. His strongest individual seasons were built around trebles with Barcelona and, most compellingly, leading Argentina to the 2022 World Cup. That alone would define most careers. For Messi, it was chapter seven of eight.
Ronaldo has five (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017), and his 2016 stands out in particular — Champions League with Real Madrid AND the European Championship with Portugal in the same calendar year. His 2017 was similarly absurd: LaLiga and the Champions League, top scorer in both. The numbers are there. The argument is just harder with Messi in the room.
The other eight aren't decoration
It would be easy to dismiss the rest of the shortlist as historical filler. That would be wrong.
- Michel Platini won three in a row (1983–85) and scored nine goals at Euro 1984 — a tournament record that still stands.
- Johan Cruyff claimed three awards (1971, 1973, 1974) and was the architect of Total Football at the 1974 World Cup.
- Marco van Basten won in 1988, 1989, and 1992. His volley in the Euro 1988 final against the Soviet Union remains one of the most technically perfect goals ever scored.
- Alfredo Di Stéfano (1957, 1959), Franz Beckenbauer (1972, 1976), Kevin Keegan (1978, 1979), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (1980, 1981), and Ronaldo Nazário (1997, 2002) round out the ten.
Notably absent: Zidane, Ronaldinho, and Eusébio — all one-time winners, all ineligible. Maradona and Pelé don't qualify either, not because of what they achieved, but because the award was restricted to European players during their careers. A rule that aged about as well as you'd expect.
Everyone who votes gets entered into a draw for two tickets to the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony. The poll is open now.
