Ballon d’Or 2026: How many times Ronaldo, Messi have been nominated

The 30 nominees for this year’s Ballon d’Or were revealed on Tuesday, with former Argentina captain Lionel Messi among the names included on the list as he seeks his ninth career prize at the ceremony set for next month in London.

Messi’s eternal rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, was not nominated in the list.

DAILY POST takes a look at how many times Messi and Ronaldo have been nominated for the Ballon d’Or in history.

Messi has been nominated 17 times for the award, placing him second on the all-time list for most nominations received.

Only Ronaldo has been nominated more times than the Inter Miami forward in the award’s history.

The Portugal captain holds the record with 18 total nominations across his career, one more than Messi.

The Al-Nassr forward has won the Ballon d’Or five times while Messi has bagged it a record eight times.