With Cristiano Ronaldo having won his fifth Ballon d'Or on Thursday, here are 15 top players – including one African – who never won the Golden Ball.
Click through the gallery above to see 15 superstars who never won the Ballon d'Or.
Englishman Stanley Matthews won the inaugural Ballon d'Or in 1956, and prior to 1995, the award was also known as European Footballer of the Year because, originally, only European players were in contention for the accolade.
As consequence, the likes of Diego Maradona and Pele were never able to win a Golden Ball, despite their massive achievements with Brazil and Argentina.
In 1995, George Weah – to date Africa's only winner of the award – became the first non-European to lift the Golden Ball after France Football extended the criteria to include all players plying their trade at European clubs.
In 2007, another change was implemented, and since then all players from around the world are eligible to win the Ballon d'Or. Between 2010 and 2015, France Football and FIFA collaborated to hand out the FIFA Ballon d'Or, but they split up in 2016, and now both entities are once again handing out their own awards.
FIFA's The Best Men's Player accolade is the successor of the FIFA World Footballer of the Year prize, which was inaugurated in 1991.
The list of players who never lifted the Golden Ball is long and filled with illustrious names, but one of the biggest stars to miss out is Xavi Hernandez, according to Bleacher Report. The former FC Barcelona captain finished in third place in 2009, 2010 and 2011 despite lifting literally every trophy there is in club and international football during that period.
AC Milan's Paolo Maldini famously won the UEFA Champions League trophy five times and is considered one of the best defenders ever, but he never lifted the Ballon d'Or.
Similarly, Samuel Eto'o, who is Africa's most decorated player and became the first to win back-to-back Champions League titles with two different clubs (FC Barcelona in 2009 and Inter Milan in 2010), never won the Golden Ball.
Read: The Previous 13 Ballon d'Or Winners Before CR7 Messi
Other names in the gallery include Andres Iniesta, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp.
Click through the selection in the gallery above, and let us know in the comments section below who you think was the best player ever to not have lifted the Golden Ball!
