Cristiano Ronaldo won't achieve his biggest ambition in football, he revealed it to a journalist

Cristiano Ronaldo won’t achieve his biggest ambition in football amid claims Lionel Messi is set to win an eighth Ballon d’Or.

Messi achieved his crowing glory in December when he spectacularly led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar.

The former Barcelona star subsequently joined Inter Miami in July and immediately set the MLS alight with a string of mesmeric performances.

And according to Catalan newspaper Sport, Messi has reportedly been informed that he is set to win his eighth Ballon d’Or in Paris on Monday, October 30.

The publication added that Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati will be presented with the women’s Ballon d’Or at the Chatelet Theater, having won the World Cup with Spain in August.

Messi’s alleged impending triumph will cause controversy in certain quarters given the Argentine had mixed fortunes in his last six months at Paris Saint-Germain and is now playing outside of Europe’s top five leagues.

Indeed, Erling Haaland may have reason to feel aggrieved, having scored 52 goals and claimed the treble in his first season at Manchester City.

However, no one will be more frustrated than Cristiano Ronaldo, who has not even been shortlisted for this year’s award, having secured a transfer to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr in January.

Indeed, the editor-in-chief of the France Football magazine Pascal Ferre once claimed that Ronaldo’s sole ambition in football was to retire with more Ballon d’Or crowns than Messi.

Speaking to the New York Times in 2021, Ferre said: "Ronaldo has only one ambition and that is to retire with more Ballon d'Or [awards] than Messi.

"I know because he has told me."

Messi would be winning a record eighth Ballon d’Or later this month if reports are to be believed, three more than Ronaldo’s tally.

And while Ronaldo has had a prolific start to the Saudi Pro League campaign, at 38 it is unlikely he has the time or the residual powers to level Messi’s haul, let alone surpass it.

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Topics: Football, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Ballon d'Or

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.