How Cristiano Ronaldo Beat Lionel Messi to Be Named Greatest Ballon d’Or Winner
- Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the greatest Ballon d'Or winner of all time following a public vote that placed him ahead of Lionel Messi
- Ronaldo's 2008 season with Manchester United, in which he scored 42 goals, earned the top spot in the B.O.A.T. initiative
- The credibility of the vote has been questioned after data revealed that over 5,000 participants cast ballots more than once during the poll
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Cristiano Ronaldo has been voted the greatest Ballon d'Or winner of all time in a public poll, edging out Lionel Messi with his 2007/08 campaign at Manchester United recognised as the standout award-winning season in the award's history.
The B.O.A.T. initiative, launched on 1 October by France Football, invited football supporters across the world to vote for their favourite Ballon d'Or-winning campaign.
Ronaldo's debut triumph in 2008 received the most support, placing him ahead of Messi's record-breaking 2012 campaign.
Source: Getty Images
Ronaldo's defining 2008 season at United
During the 2007/08 season, Ronaldo scored 42 goals across all competitions, with 31 of those coming in the Premier League.
He claimed both the Premier League Golden Boot and the European Golden Shoe that year.
On the club front, he was integral to United's double success, lifting both the Premier League title and the UEFA Champions League trophy.
He also scored in the Champions League final against Chelsea before United clinched the title on penalties. Those performances secured him his first Ballon d'Or, with Messi finishing in second place.
Messi's 2012 calendar year presented a formidable rival case. The Argentine registered 91 goals for club and country that year, setting a world record for goals scored in a single calendar year.
Despite the magnitude of that achievement, the participating voters ultimately favoured Ronaldo's campaign.
How Ronaldo beat Messi: Key details emerge
The result has not been without controversy. Voting data from France Football showed that 5,009 participants cast ballots on more than one occasion.
Of that group, 44 individuals voted between 10 and 26 times, 300 voted between five and nine times, and 4,665 submitted between two and four votes.
What remains unclear is whether the platform permitted multiple submissions, whether repeated votes were filtered out before results were counted, and whether the practice had any material effect on the final standings. Additionally, it cost €1 to cast a vote.
Without a full breakdown of votes per candidate or an official clarification on how duplicate entries were handled, the extent to which the outcome was influenced by repeat voting cannot be established.
Ronaldo's win, therefore, reflects the preferences of those who participated rather than a settled verdict on football's greatest Ballon d'Or winner. The long-running debate between the two rivals remains as open as ever.
How Ronaldo's and Messi's seasons compare
YEN.com.gh previously compared Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2008 Ballon d’Or-winning season with Lionel Messi’s remarkable 2012 campaign, which earned him the award later that year.
While Ronaldo combined individual brilliance with team success at Manchester United, Messi’s extraordinary goalscoring record set a benchmark that remains unmatched.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
