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Ronaldo Takes Commanding Lead With 62% of Votes, Leaving Messi Trailing by 13% in Ballon d’Or of All Time Award Race
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Messi’s Eight Ballon d’Or Wins Fail to Match Ronaldo’s Early Voting Dominance as Fans Debate Who Deserves GOAT Status
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Ronaldo and Messi Fans Clash on Social Media Over Voting Credibility, With Some Supporters Claiming Money Could Influence Results
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Ballon d’Or of All Time Voting Closes October 27, With Each Vote Costing €1 and Fans Offered a Chance to Win Special Rewards
October 20, (THEWILL) – Cristiano Ronaldo is leading an official fan vote for the Ballon d’Or of All Time (B.O.A.T.) special award for multiple-time Ballon d’Or winners, the organisers announced on Tuesday.
Voting opened in early October and runs until midnight on 27 October, allowing football fans to vote for the greatest winner in the history of the award.
The initiative is aimed at allowing fans to revisit historic Ballon d’Or campaigns and vote for the season from those in which each legend won the award.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi join the list of legends such as, Ronaldo Nazario, Marco van Basten, Michel Platini, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Kevin Keegan, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff and Alfredo Di Stefano, who have won the prestigious award twice or more.
According to the Ballon d’Or official X handle, Ronaldo is currently leading the race with a commanding 62% vote, placing him ahead of Messi and other multiple Ballon d’Or winners.
Messi comes second with 13% of the vote with his support spread across his eight wins, with his 2023 title, won after lifting the World Cup in Qatar with Argentina, sitting second in popularity at 9%.
Next on the list are Cristiano Ronaldo’s awards for 2007 (7%) and 2016 (2%).
The remaining honours for both players fail to climb above 1%, and some editions register no percentage at all.
Lionel Messi has won the award eight times, while Ronaldo has won the award five times.
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Meanwhile, Football fans have taken to social media to react to the update on X.
Kanye Wiz7 said he has voted for Cristiano Ronaldo 30 times, claiming that nothing is too much for his ‘GOAT’
He wrote on X: “Cristiano Ronaldo is leading and I’ve voted 30x (€30) just now for the GOAT. Anything for my GOAT.”
Speedfast questioned the cost of voting, claiming it is not based on merit.
He wrote: “People have to pay to vote so it’s not about who actually deserves, it’s about who can throw money around. What a setup”.
Daveson said the only reason Ronaldo is winning is that Messi fans don’t know which year to choose from.
He wrote: “The only reason Ronaldo is leading is that Messi fans don’t know which year of Messi to pick from. Homelander fans all run to their only good year 2008.”
Divine Cule wrote: “Ronaldo fans are putting their money on it. I thought the award lost credibility; why is Ronaldo desperate to win this one?”
Steve Savvy wrote: “Yes, I get it. It is easy to choose Ronaldo’s best moment or year as a professional player, but for Messi, it is quite difficult to choose his Most Outstanding year.”
Olanre wrote: “It’s easy to pick Cristiano Ronaldo’s best version because every Ronaldo stan will choose 2008 Ronaldo. But with Messi, it’s much harder to choose because almost every season of his career was world-class. There’s no shortage of prime Messi seasons to pick from.”
The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony is on Monday, October 26, 2026.
How to vote for the Ballon d’Or of All Time (B.O.A.T) Award
Each vote costs one euro, with an added incentive. Voters go into a draw for two tickets to this year’s ceremony, plus a special photo with the award.
Fans can vote more than once, even in support of the same winner, and they can see the percentages each nominee has racked up.
You can vote on the official Ballon d’Or website: https://ballondor.com/vote
