Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, Benzema: 15 players with most Ballon d'Or nominations ever

The 2022 Ballon d’Or nominees were announced on Friday evening and Cristiano Ronaldo made the 30-man shortlist.

Ronaldo, now 37 years old, was brilliant once again in the 2021/22 season.

He became the highest goal scorer in international football history, performed heroics for Man Utd in the Champions League and notched 18 goals in the Premier League.

In total, he scored 32 goals in 49 matches, which is a superb return.

He has managed to keep his incredible streak going of making the Ballon d’Or shortlist in every season since 2004.

That means he has now made the Ballon d’Or shortlist 19 years in a row. That is absurd.

With Ronaldo’s streak in mind, we’ve named the 15 players with the most Ballon d’Or nominations in history using a list created by 90min.com.

90min.com’s list was published in 2021 so we’ve updated it to reflect the 2022 nominations.

Zidane won the award in 1998 after great success with Juventus and France.

The legendary goalkeeper was nominated for the Ballon d’Or on eight occasions. He finished fourth in the 2008 edition.

Drogba came closest to winning the Ballon d’Or in 2007, when he finished fourth.

No English player has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or more times than Rooney.

Jose Mourinho said about Eto’o in 2019, per BBC Sport: “It’s difficult to understand how Samuel Eto’o never won the Ballon d’Or with the impressive career he had. He was the best striker in the world for several years and I think he deserved a Ballon d’Or but these are things out of our control.”

Henry, one of the greatest strikers of the 21st century, finished runner-up in the 2003 edition.

Neymar was unable to add to his tally after failing to make the shortlist for the 2022 award.

No goalkeeper has been nominated for the