The Ballon d’Or award is often hailed as one of the most prestigious and coveted honours in the international football arena and plays a major role in highlighting the dominance of a footballer’s professional career on their field, speaking volumes about their spectacular achievements.
Over the past few decades, numerous iconic football stalwarts, including Lionel Messi, Michael Owen, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modrić have clinched the prestigious Ballon d’Or award and have gained enormous appreciation from football aficionados from all over the world.
While these legendary football players have been awarded with football’s highest and most premium honour, a few underrated football players have remained deprived of this ultimate honour in their otherwise successful professional football careers. Have you ever wondered about such football players who never received the Ballon d’Or award even once throughout their careers? Well, let’s find out.
In this article we will take a look at the top four most underrated professional football players who never won the Ballon d’Or award even once in their careers.
Top 4 Underrated Football Legends Who Never Won the Ballon d’Or Award
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Thierry Henry
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The legendary French former professional football player and current coach, Thierry Henry, is at the first spot on our list of the top four iconic yet underrated football players who never clinched the prestigious Ballon d’Or award. Widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all-time, Thierry Henry was overshadowed to a great extent by numerous other legendary football stalwarts of his era, including David Beckham, Paolo Maldini and a few others.
Thierry Henry earned enormous praise throughout his professional career with Arsenal and successfully led the club to a phenomenal total of two Premier League titles (2001–02, 2003–04), three FA Cups (2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05) and two FA Community Shields (2002, 2004). Moreover, Thierry Henry also clinched a record total of two La Liga titles (2008-09, 2009-10), two Spanish Super Cups (2009, 2010) and the prestigious FIFA Club World Cup in 2009 with Barcelona. However, despite his dominant exploits on the field for the two most prominent football clubs, Thierry Henry failed to clinch the prestigious Ballon d’Or in his otherwise successful professional football career.
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Xavi Hernandez
At the second spot in our list of the top four underrated professional football players who have never won the Ballon d’Or award even once in their careers, we have the iconic Spanish professional football manager and former player, Xavi Hernandez, who most recently managed La Liga club Barcelona.
Throughout his professional football career, Xavi Hernandez represented Barcelona and Al Sadd football clubs and clinched a record total of eight La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA European Championship titles and the prestigious FIFA World Cup in 2010. Despite his stellar performances throughout his professional football career, which spanned almost two decades, Xavi Hernandez failed to clinch even a single Ballon d’Or award, leaving his fans heartbroken when he announced his official retirement from the game as a player in May 2019.
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Paolo Maldini
Next, at the third spot on our list of the top four iconic yet underrated football players who never clinched the prestigious Ballon d’Or award, we have the legendary Italian football executive and former professional football player Paolo Maldini, who played as a left-back or as a centre-back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. Often hailed as one of the greatest defenders of all-time, Paolo Maldini was often overlooked and overshadowed by bigger names in the world of professional football during his era.
Nevertheless, the Italian football sensation witnessed one of the most successful professional football careers and clinched a record total of seven Serie A titles, five UEFA Champions League titles and one Intercontinental Cup. Despite his stellar achievements on the field, Paolo Maldini was never honoured with the prestigious Ballon d’Or award, even once throughout his professional football career, which still serves as one of the most drastic shocks for football aficionados from all over the world.
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Andres Iniesta
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Finally, at the fourth spot in our list of the top four most underrated professional football players who have never won the Ballon d’Or award even once in their careers, we have the Spanish former professional football player Andrés Iniesta, who played as a midfielder and spent most of his career at La Liga club Barcelona and is still regarded as one of the greatest midfielders in the history of the game.
Throughout his glorious professional football career with Barcelona and Vissel Kobe, Andrés Iniesta clinched a total of nine La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles and also earned enormous praise and recognition from football aficionados from all over the world for scoring the match-winning goal during the 2010 World Cup. Unfortunately, despite his heroics on the field, Andrés Iniesta failed to clinch the coveted Ballon d’Or award even once throughout his professional football career.
