The Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual trophy a footballer can win during their career. It's recognition of an incredible year and only the best of the best have had the chance to win it over the years. Lionel Messi has won it more than anyone else, with eight Ballon d'Ors to his name.
Other superstars to win it include Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Michael Owen, Luka Modric and Kaka. It's an honour unlike any other, but over the last couple of decades, there's not been much opportunity for many footballers to get their hands on the prize. That's because it was passed back and forth between the aforementioned Messi and Ronaldo for almost 15 years. From 2008 to 2023, the two men won the award 13 times between them, with only Modric and Karim Benzema sneaking a victory themselves during that time.
As a result, there have been some excellent players operating at the top of football who never got the chance to win the award. Former AC Milan and Real Madrid man Kaka actually acknowledged one star who he described as 'the best footballer in the world', but never managed to win the Ballon d'Or. The former midfielder thought the star deserved it and that was Neymar.
EPL_Ballon d'Or Winner Related
Every Ballon d'Or Winner by Position
The Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual award in football. But who has won it in each position?
Kaka Thinks Neymar Deserved to Win the Ballon d'Or
He thinks he was the best player in the world
Neymar
During an interview with SPORTbible, Kaka, who won the Ballon d'Or award himself in 2007, was tasked with naming one player who never managed to get their hands on the prize, but deserved to. He picked fellow Brazilian, Neymar. The former midfielder said:
"It’s hard to say deserved, but I would say Neymar. In certain periods of his career, he was performing as the best player in the world, but to win the Ballon d’Or and individual awards, you have to be the protagonist in a collective tournament. This was something that meant he missed out.
"If PSG had won the Champions League in 2020 against Bayern Munich, Neymar probably would’ve been nominated as the best player in the world in that year. But in my opinion, he was performing as the best [player]."
Over the course of a decade playing for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, Neymar became one of the best footballers in the world. He was dazzling on the pitch, doing things with a football that no one had ever done before. He played 359 games combined for the two teams, recording 378 goal contributions along the way.
It's hard to argue with Kaka that he deserved to at least be in the running for a Ballon d'Or award during that period, but fell victim to the dominance of Messi and Ronaldo. He's undoubtedly one of the greatest players to never win the trophy. Now back at Santos, where his career started, it feels safe to assume that his days of even coming close to the Ballon d'Or are fimrly behind him.
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt and accurate as of 31/05/2025