Lingkan Reang
For 20 years Messi & Ronaldo have been dominating football world on & off the field with their performances and trophies.
Ronaldo's first nomination for the Ballon d'Or was in 2004 when he was 18 years old. Even at this age he was already a star performer for his club and country.
Ronaldo finally won his first Ballon d'Or in 2008, where Messi was at the second place.
Messi's first nomination for the Ballon d'Or was back in 2006. by then he was already phenomenal at FC Barcelona.
The very next year after Ronaldo's first Ballon d'Or , Messi also had his hands on the award.
For the next 13 years the whole world witnessed their unmatched rivalry, it was the ultimate clash of titans.
Apart from Luca Modric winning it in 2018 it has always been a two horse race.
2022 was the first time in 16 years when neither Messi nor Ronaldo were in the top 3.
In 2023 following Messi's heroics in the World Cup, he reclaimed the Ballon d'Or.
In 2024, neither have been included in the 30 players nominated for the award first time in 20 years. Can we call it "an end of en era".