Every player Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have ever voted for to win the Ballon d'Or

Pages of Ballon d'Or ballots have been filled with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's names at the top. But it begs the question as to whom the iconic duo have deemed worthy of the award themselves ahead of Monday's ceremony, where neither great is among the nominees.

Between them, Messi and Ronaldo account for 13 of the past 16 Ballons d'Or handed out since 2008. In fact, not a single player other than Messi or Ronaldo claimed the award for nine years between 2008 and 2017.

It was also around this period (2006-2015) that the players decided the destination of the Ballon d'Or through their own votes. That responsibility then reverted back to a group of 100 journalists representing their respective federations from 2016.

However, both Ronaldo and Messi have maintained some say in crowning the winner of FIFA's 'The Best' award since then. This rival prize, decided by a mixture of national team coaches, their captains, and journalists, gives some insight as to whom they've rated above all others each year.

Interestingly enough, neither Ronaldo nor Messi voted for one another until both were well into their prime years. That was until Messi broke the duck by nominating Ronaldo in 2018 (third) and 2019 (second), while Ronaldo's sole vote for his adversary came in 2020 (second).

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It's expected that both legends of the game have traditionally favoured their club and international team-mates in the ballot. Messi's earliest years casting votes were dominated by names like Xavi, Andres Iniesta, and compatriot Sergio Aguero, for example.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo showed his own bias over time by backing the likes of Gareth Bale, Mesut Ozil and Sergio Ramos. However, it's worth highlighting that the Portugal captain's first two recorded first-place votes for the Ballon d'Or went to Barcelona legend Xavi and Radamel Falcao, who played for Atletico Madrid at the time.

That voting history in itself displayed integrity at the time, putting forth names despite their rivalries with Real Madrid. However, his allegiances showed more over the years as the likes of Bale, Karim Benzema and Luka Modric took over.

The same could be said for Messi as Luis Suarez and Neymar, the other two members of that iconic 'MSN' Barca front line, dominated his voting. However, he too showed fairness by giving Modric his first-place vote in 2018 and backing then-Liverpool winger Sadio Mane for FIFA's The Best prize in 2019.

The South American's top vote to see Lamine Yamal win the award last year fell flat, though he did put eventual winner Vinicius Junior third in his pecking order. Ronaldo, meanwhile, hasn't taken part in the ballot in the last three years, with Portugal's Bernardo Silva instead taking that honour.

Lionel Messi voting history

FIFA Ballon d'Or (first, second, third)

2010: No vote

2011: Xavi, Iniesta, Sergio Aguero

2012: Iniesta, Xavi, Aguero

2013: Iniesta, Xavi, Neymar

2014: Angel Di Maria, Iniesta, Javier Mascherano

2015: Luis Suarez, Neymar, Iniesta

FIFA 'The Best':

2016: Suarez, Neymar, Iniesta

2017: Suarez, Iniesta, Neymar

2018: Luka Modric, Kylian Mbappe, Ronaldo

2019: Sadio Mane, Ronaldo, Frenkie de Jong

2020: Neymar, Mbappe, Robert Lewandowski

2021: Neymar, Mbappe, Karim Benzema

2022: Neymar, Mbappe, Benzema

2023: Erling Haaland, Mbappe, Julian Alvarez

2024: Lamine Yamal, Mbappe, Vinicius Junior

Cristiano Ronaldo voting history

FIFA Ballon d'Or:

2010: Xavi, Iker Casillas, Wesley Sneijder

2011: No vote

2012: No vote

2013: Radamel Falcao, Bale, Ozil

2014: Sergio Ramos, Bale, Benzema

2015: Benzema, James Rodriguez, Bale

FIFA's 'The Best':

2016: Bale, Modric, Ramos

2017: Modric, Ramos, Marcelo

2018: Raphael Varane, Modric, Antoine Griezmann

2019: Matthijs de Ligt, De Jong, Mbappe

2020: Lewandowski, Messi, Mbappe

2021: Lewandowski, N'Golo Kante, Jorginho

2022: No vote

2023: No vote

2024: No vote

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