The 10 players who would have won the Ballon d'Or if Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo didn't exist

For the first time in 20 years, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were not nominated for the Ballon d'Or award after being left off the shortlist completely.

Now both playing outside of Europe with Inter Miami and Al Nassr, the pair did not make the cut - for the first time since 2003.

Messi and Ronaldo have completely dominated the gong, with 13 Ballon d'Ors between them in their decorated careers.

Messi has been victorious in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023, with Ronaldo claiming the prize in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017.

There have been occasional winners in the middle of their duopoly, namely Real Madrid icons Luka Modric and Karim Benzema.

But what if the two titans of world football did not exist? France Football put together a list showing who would have won the Ballon d'Or in an alternate universe, going off who came second in the rankings.

Image: Getty

Back in 2008, Liverpool's Fernando Torres would've won the award after finishing third with 179 points.

Between 2009 and 2012, Messi's pals Xavi and Andres Iniesta would have traded victories before Bayern Munich duo Franck Ribery and Manuel Neuer stopped the run.

Former France international Ribery has often said he felt he was robbed of a Ballon d'Or given his contributions in Bayern Munich's 2013 treble triumph.

Image: Getty

Neymar was arguably the third best player behind Messi and Ronaldo for large spells and he would have been a Ballon d'Or winner in 2015 and 2017, in between a victory for Antoine Griezmann.

Virgil van Dijk came second to Messi in 2019 and would have been the first defender since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 to win the Ballon d'Or.

Robert Lewandowski cruelly missed out on the Ballon d'Or in 2020 when COVID-19 cancelled the award and his efforts would have been recognised a year later in 2021.

Image: Getty

Benzema finally got a Ballon d'Or in 2022 but Erling Haaland would have scooped the prize in 2023 after scoring 52 goals as Manchester City won a historic treble.

In reality, he finished second behind Messi on 357 points.

Here is the list in full:

2008 - Fernando Torres

2009 - Xavi

2010 - Andres Iniesta

2011 - Xavi

2012 - Andres Iniesta

2013 - Franck Ribery

2014 - Manuel Neuer

2015 - Neymar

2016 - Antoine Griezmann

2017 - Neymar

2019 - Virgil van Dijk

2021 - Robert Lewandowski

2022 - Karim Benzema

2023 - Erling Haaland