France Football annually awards players from across the world with the biggest individual honour every year, the Ballon d’Or. A number of great players have missed out despite being legends of the game. And in this article, we look at the top five such icons.
Ferenc Puskas
Ferenc Puskas has an award named after him, given to the best goal scored across all official competitions. He featured for Real Madrid for eight years, winning three European Cups, five La Liga titles, four La Liga top scorer awards and one Spanish Cup. But despite all of this, he was never awarded the prestigious individual award.
Andres Iniesta
Andres Iniesta has come mighty close to winning the Ballon d’Or alongside Xavi. Many believe that he should’ve won it in 2010, but the midfielder ultimately lost out to Lionel Messi, who now has seven. Iniesta is a Barcelona and Spain legend and has won everything there is to win playing for club and country.
Thierry Henry
Henry is still hailed as one of the best forwards the Premier League has ever seen. He also featured for Barcelona, and achieved two podium finishes in the race for the Ballon d’Or. Henry is still Arsenal’s highest goalscorer, and is an undisputed legend of the game.
Paolo Maldini
Maldini is referenced as the gold standard for defenders to this very day. He spent his entire career with AC Milan, and for many, is one of the greatest defenders to have ever played the sport. Paolo Maldini won five European Cups, seven Serie A titles and achieved a podium finish running for the award.
Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski was the undisputed winner of the award had it not been cancelled in 2020. He was acknowledged by Lionel Messi when the Argentinian received the award, and the Pole finished second in the list. This year, he is also expected to be one of the frontrunners for the award.
