Cristiano Ronaldo is among a list of high-profile players who could feel hard done by about the cancellation of the 2020 Ballon d'Or, even though he was not this year's favourite.
Click through the gallery above to see 10 stars who could have won the 2020 Ballon d'Or, and how many goal involvements they had, and trophies they claimed, this year.
The Juventus superstar started the year in superb form, and has scored 20 goals and assisted a further five strikes in 2020 so far. Remember, the Golden Ball goes along with the calendar year, meaning statistics from the first half of the 2019/20 campaign would not have been taken into consideration.
However, due to the three-month break in football because of the coronavirus pandemic, organisers France Football decided to cancel this year's awards and instead select a 2020 World Dream Team, picked by 180 jury members around the world.
Ronaldo is on track to claim his second Serie A title and could still catch Ciro Immobile as well as Robert Lewandowski in the Capocannoniere (awarded to Serie A's top goalscorer in a season) and European Golden Shoe races, respectively, being just one goal behind the Lazio forward and six behind Lewandowski with five games to spare.
Juventus are also still in the UEFA Champions League, with Europe's elite club competition often playing a major role in the award.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi will not be able to defend his title from last year, despite being the only player in Europe's top five leagues to record more than 20 goals and 20 assists in the 2019/20 campaign, with 15 of those strikes and 17 of those assists having come in 2020. The Argentine missed out on the LaLiga title, but could also still help FC Barcelona lift this season's Champions League trophy.
The player who could probably feel the hardest done by due to the cancellation of this year's Golden Ball award is Robert Lewandowski. The Bayern Munich striker was the current bookies' favourite for the accolade after winning the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal titles with the German giants. He has scored 21 goals and assisted another four strikes in 2020 thus far, and can look back at an incredible campaign. He is also the leading goalscorer in the Champions League right now, with Bayern among the favourites to win the competition when it resumes in August.
Read: Report: Ronaldo Makes Decision On His Future
You can find some other high-profile stars who were in the running for the 2020 Ballon d'Or in the gallery above!
Who do you think would have won this year's Golden Ball? Have your say in the comments section below.
