Iniesta, Xavi, Neymar, Henry: The 11 greatest players never to win Ballon d'Or

From 2008 onwards the coveted Ballon d’Or award has been dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The formidable duo have quite literally cleaned up across the past 15 years, with one of the two winning the award in every year available besides 2018.

On that occasion, Real Madrid and Croatia star Luka Modric was the fortunate beneficiary of a slight drop off from the usual recipients, not that he wasn’t a worthy winner, although you might find that certain players on this list arguably deserved the accolade even more when at the peak of their powers.

The jaw-dropping performances and staggering numbers from the Messi/Ronaldo era has left many other worthy winners wondering what might have been had they been born a decade earlier, because it’s truly quite incredible that some these stars never received their crown.

Check out who we believe are the 11 greatest players never to win a Ballon d’Or below.

Note: This list only consider players from 1995 or after – the date the Ballon d’Or began accepting non-European players as candidates.

11. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

It’s maybe understandable why Zlatan hasn’t been crowned the King of Europe, as he’s probably not been the absolute best in the world at any single point.

He was certainly amongst the best for well over a decade, though, and his longevity at the top, immaculate trophy haul, and knack for the spectacular certainly puts him in the frame.

The main factor that counts against Zlatan is that he’s never actually appeared in a Champions League final – and we know how much that counts for in the eyes of France Football.

Had he guided a club to European glory, who knows, maybe the 6ft 5inch Swede would be a Ballon d’Or winner.

10. Arjen Robben

Incredibly,