Ballon d'Or shortlist features no Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo for first time in 21 years | OneFootball

The Ballon d'Or shortlist looked a little bit different in 2024.

As France Football magazine gradually released the 30 nominees in batches of five, fans expected to see at least the name of Lionel Messi following his Copa America win during the summer, perhaps even Cristiano Ronaldo after his 50 goals for Al Nassr last season.

But when the final few were revealed, there was no Messi…and no Ronaldo either.

Ronaldo was less of a surprise. The 39-year-old already hadn't featured in 2023 and objectively struggled to make an impact at Euro 2024 with Portugal, underlining that the Saudi Pro League is a step below the level he left behind in Europe.

Messi has also departed European club football, moving to Inter Miami in 2023. But he still claimed the Ballon d'Or that year, rewarded for Argentina's success at the World Cup in 2022. His absence altogether from the list of nominees was much more of a shock.

Messi, now 37, would have been going for his record-extending ninth Ballon d'Or. Ronaldo has won five and the pair that have defined the last generation of elite football and are two of the greatest of all time, have a mammoth 13 Ballon d'Or trophies between them.

Between 2008 and 2017, nobody else won it at all. Since Kaka's triumph in 2007, Luka Modric (2018) and Karim Benzema (2022) are the only players to break the duopoly.

Even then, Messi and Ronaldo were each nominated in both years. But because neither are in 2024, it is the first Ballon d'Or shortlist not to feature at least one of them since 2003.

Ronaldo was nominated for the first time in 2004 off the back of his debut season with Manchester United and his breakout for Portugal at that summer's European Championship. At least one of them – usually both – has been on the shortlist every time since then…until now.

Pavel Nedved was 2003's Ballon d'Or winner / PIERRE VERDY/GettyImages

The world of football was a very different place in 2003. Serie A was arguably still king, yet to permanently give way to the Premier League and La Liga in the years that followed.

The Ballon d'Or was won by Pavel Nedved, who had driven Juventus to the Champions League final. The Czech winger finished considerably ahead of Arsenal forward Thierry Henry and AC Milan rock Paolo Maldini. Andriy Shevchenko and Zinedine Zidane completed the top five, while Ruud van Nistelrooy, Roberto Carlos and David Beckham featured in the top ten.

The overall shortlist featured as many as 50 players, almost double that of today, with 26 of those receiving at least one vote and the 24 others failing to earn any.