A new era for the Ballon d'Or in the post-Messi and Ronaldo landscape | Ballon d'Or

The Ballon d'Or, football's most famous individual award, has not always been the gold-plated standard of dullness that it has become over the last 16 years. Starting in 1990, 17 different players won the award over the next 18 years, with winners coming not only from Brazil, Germany, France and Italy, but also Ukraine, Liberia, Bulgaria and even England.

But when the names from the 1990s hit like a wave of nostalgia – Van Basten! Baggio! Stoichkov! Wow! Ronaldo! Rivaldo! – The list from 2008 is overwhelmingly repetitive. Cristiano Ronaldo won his first gong this year, Lionel Messi followed suit, and what was once a fun way to shine a spotlight on a great player – or at least a standout year – became a proxy war for the most overrated debate in the social media. Messi and Ronaldo took 13 of 15 awards between 2008 and 2023, a duopoly fueled by the players' tireless brilliance but also by the marketing machines of Adidas and Nike and the political vote.

As dazzling as it was to watch the two try to outdo each other on the pitch, especially in their nine seasons together in La Liga, it was just as tiring to watch them sit in tuxedos with fixed grins and her inflated pile of balloons enlarged even more year. It reduced the award to a startling reminder of what even the most superficial fan already knew: that Messi and Ronaldo were the best footballers of the last 20 years.

For such a prestigious award, the Ballon d'Or, announced on Monday for 2024, has a pleasantly bizarre backstory. The award was organized by France Football magazine and was the brainchild of former player journalist Gabriel Hanot and editor Jacques Ferran (the two were also involved in the drafting of the European Cup). In 1956, Stanley Matthews was voted the inaugural winner, despite the great winger being 41 at the time, three years removed from his career FA Cup triumph and, even for such a timeless wonder, already past his prime. In the very first attempt, the Ballon d'Or essentially failed in its mission to award a lifetime achievement award.

In the decades that followed, legends like Alfredo Di Stéfano, Johan Cruyff, George Best and Franz Beckenbauer met left fielders like Allan Simonsen from Denmark and Igor Belanov from the Soviet Union. Nobody got too angry. But amid the era of individual football in modern football, the Ballon d'Or has become a weapon; something you long for and desire to a remarkable extent.

So much so that France Football's then editor-in-chief Pascal Ferré told the New York Times in 2021: “Cristiano Ronaldo has only one goal, and that is to retire with more Ballons d'Or than Messi… that I know.' , as if it were his ultimate prize, despite the 12 months between his first Champions League triumph with Real Madrid and a World Cup season with Portugal.

Several other players have made career-changing decisions just to get their hands on the coveted gold ball. Neymar's departure from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 wasn't just about making mountains of money. “Winning the Ballon d'Or is something that I have set as my goal, it would be a personal victory,” said the Brazilian, assuming that it would be impossible to achieve it in the shadow of Messi at Barça.

If this sounds like the Ballon d'Or was more trouble than it's worth, it's important to remember that the award can have a positive force. The world's most celebrated winner came in 1995 after George Weah picked up the prize after the tournament was opened to European players. Did the wonderfully skilful Weah deserve it more than, for example, Jari Litmanen, who inspired Ajax to win the Champions League in 1995, a goal-scoring Jürgen Klinsmann or various other competitors? Not necessarily. But by honoring Weah, the Ballon d'Or acknowledged the increasing influence of African footballers. The Liberia striker became an inspiration to aspiring players across a continent.

It is a depressing statistic that despite the influence African players have had on European football since then, Weah remains that continent's only winner. The Ballon d'Or Féminin was also delayed in 2018, but it highlighted the achievements of the best players. And with four different winners in five years, it provided more variety than its male counterpart, which had as many different winners in 15 attempts.

A low point for the men's award came in 2023. Messi's win of an eighth Ballon d'Or felt empty – winning a World Cup was the finishing touch to his legacy, it added nothing – and was also strangely arbitrary. Messi was great for Argentina for a month, but his club form had plateaued. Was he really better than Kylian Mbappé, who also led his team to the final and then scored a hat trick? Had France won on penalties instead of Argentina, it is almost certain that Mbappé would have won the award ahead of Messi. The fate of the Ballon d'Or was essentially decided by Kingsley Coman and Aurélien Tchouaméni missing penalties while Gonzalo Montiel scored. What logic is this?

It is now too late to give the 2023 award to Mbappé or to Manchester City's Erling Haaland or Kevin De Bruyne. Nor can we correct the error that Andrés Iniesta or Xavi have zero awards overall despite their transformative roles in the groundbreaking Barcelona and Spain teams. Still, there are golden rays of hope for the award. For the first time in 21 years, neither Messi nor Ronaldo – nor any previous winners – are on the 30-man shortlist. It appears to be a showdown between Vinícius Júnior, who would be the first black winner since his Brazilian compatriot Ronaldinho 19 years ago, or Rodri, who would be the first male Spanish winner since Barcelona's Luis Suárez (not that one) in 1960.

It feels like a refreshment, and with Mbappé and Haaland in their prime – and young candidates Lamine Yamal, Jude Bellingham, Jamal Musiala and others quickly catching up – it doesn't look like the Ballon d'Or plagued by repetition for years. The players are doing their part, but the way we view the award needs to change too. It can't just be a tool to tell us what we already know – let FIFA's rival, often dubbed 'The Best', do that.

To restore the Ballon d'Or to its former glory, we must all do something that is anathema to modern football: take it less seriously. Football already has its hard currency for success: the wins, the trophies, the goals, the data. If the Ballon d'Or can once again be an antidote to that – something more malleable, more inspiring, warmer and more empowering – that in itself will be worth celebrating.