Ronaldo's 2008 award wins Ballon d'Or of All Time fan vote
Cristiano Ronaldo's 2007-08 Manchester United season beat Lionel Messi's 2012 award in the paid B.O.A.T. fan poll. TuSport explains what the vote measured, why Africa's only winner George Weah was never on the ballot, and where Ronaldo plays tonight.
By Emily · 29 Oct 2026, 14:30 WAT
Cristiano Ronaldo's first Ballon d'Or, the 2008 award won at Manchester United, has topped the inaugural "Ballon d'Or of All Time" (B.O.A.T.) public vote, with Lionel Messi's 2012 prize in second place. The organisers published the final order after the poll closed on Tuesday 27 October, and USA Today and ESPN carried the results on Wednesday 28 October.
The ballot was not a straight Ronaldo-versus-Messi player poll. Fans picked from individual Ballon d'Or editions won by the ten men who have taken the trophy more than once — 32 awards in all, from Alfredo di Stéfano in 1957 to Messi in 2023, according to ESPN's full ranking. Ronaldo's 2007-08 campaign, when he scored 42 goals as United won the Premier League and the Champions League, came first. Messi 2012, Ronaldo 2017 and Messi 2023 completed the top four, and the two players filled the first 12 places between them. Brazil's Ronaldo Nazário, for 2002, was the highest-placed other name at 13th.
The method matters before anyone calls it a verdict. Each vote cost €1 and supporters could vote as often as they liked; paying voters also received a photograph of the first Ballon d'Or and an entry into a draw for two tickets to the 2027 ceremony, USA Today reported. Ballon d'Or's own results page says 5,009 people voted more than once, including 44 who voted between 10 and 26 times. The organisers presented the exercise as a way for fans to have their say rather than a new official award, and no trophy is attached.
There is also a margin question. A mid-vote Ballon d'Or update had the 2008 entry on 75 per cent and Messi 2012 on 9 per cent, yet ESPN described the final finish as narrow. The results page does not publish final vote shares, so TuSport is not quoting a final margin.
Portugal's football federation marked the result on X — "From 2008 to eternity" — and Manchester United and Real Madrid, where Ronaldo won his other four Ballons d'Or (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), also acknowledged it, ESPN said.
For African readers, the structure of the ballot is the real talking point. George Weah remains the only African to win the Ballon d'Or, in 1995, when he was also the first winner from outside Europe. Because he won it once, the Liberian legend was never eligible for an all-time list built only from multiple winners. Africa's single success was excluded by design, not outvoted.
The winner is still playing. Ronaldo, now 41 and an Al-Nassr forward, is in the squad that hosts Al-Kholood at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh tonight, Thursday 29 October, at 19:00 WAT in Saudi Pro League matchday 12, alongside Senegal's Sadio Mané. TuSport's preview of that match is already live, and we will report the confirmed result rather than guess it.
Our desk view: the B.O.A.T. tells us which season Ronaldo's global fanbase would pay to celebrate, and it gives a 2008 United campaign fresh attention almost two decades on. It does not settle the Ronaldo-Messi argument, and it says nothing about Africa's place in Ballon d'Or history, because Africa was never on the ballot. Ronaldo, who ESPN says is closing in on 1,000 career goals and holds the men's international record with 143 goals in 225 games, takes the fan honour into a title race with Al-Nassr.
Sources: www.usatoday.com · www.espn.com · www.espn.com · ballondor.com · ballondor.com
