Lionel Messi Ballon d’Or wins: How many and by what margin?

Lionel Messi has been one of the most dominant players ever in football, and the fact that he has won the Ballon d’Or on eight occasions proves it. He will be the reigning holder for at least a few weeks, though it is widely expected that the award for 2024 will go to Vinicius Jr.

As shown here, some of Messi’s eight Ballon d’Or wins were much closer fought than others, and we’ve ranked them by winning margin – with separate lists for points and percentage-based wins – and taken a look back at why those numbers may be fair or unfair.

Points margins for Messi Ballon d’Or wins ranked

The first of many – 240 points (2009)

After finishing third and second in 2007 and 2008, the boy from Rosario eventually won his first Ballon d’Or in 2009. Barcelona had a historical season when they won every competition a Spanish club can: La Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League, Spanish Supercup, UEFA Supercup & FIFA Club World Cup.

One of the most iconic goals of Messi’s career was scored during the Champions League final, when La Pulga jumped way above Rio Ferdinand to score the decisive goal of the contest. It was the first Ballon d’Or of eight he would receive over the coming 14 years, and sparked his famous decade-long personal rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo.

An award too far? – 105 points (2023)

Nobody could argue that Messi deserved his first Ballon d’Or, but his most recent one is probably more open to contention. Even if he was an inspiration during the 2022 World Cup final, netting a hat-trick and producing a performance of the ages, the penalty shootout could easily have swung the other way, handing the Ballon d’Or momentum to Kylian Mbappe.

A Ligue 1 title won with PSG would also be worth little by itself in the grand scheme of things, given the less competitive nature of Ligue 1.

On the other hand, Erling Haaland was coming into the 2023 ceremony on the back of a Premier League and Champions League double, having hit 36 goals in the former competition and broken several key records in his debut campaign.

Perhaps most surprising of all was not so much the identity of the winner, but the margin of victory. Some critics would assert that it was the emotive quality of Argentina’s first World Cup success in 36 years that won the day, and it will be a result debated for years to come.

Ballon d’Or comes home – 33 points (2021)

Due to COVID-19 there was no winner in 2020, and there is no doubt that both years were somehow considered when deciding who deserved it the next year. Robert Lewandowski had an outrageous 2020 but a less impressive 2021, even if he broke the Bundesliga record of goals in a single season.

Jorginho contrastingly won honours for club and country in 2021, lifting the Champions League with Chelsea and the European Championship with Italy within months of each other.

All this explains the closeness of the race this time around. However, Messi (now a PSG player) finally achieved what he was looking for, getting a trophy with Argentina by winning the 2021 Copa America. He finished as the tournament's best player, top scorer and top assist maker, duly picking up a seventh Ballon d’Or in his new home city.

A close shave – 7 points (2019)

A lot happened in the football world in the latter half of the 2010s. After a Euro win in 2016, and the first of three successive Champions League triumphs, Ronaldo sat equal with Messi on five Ballon d’Or awards by the time the 2019 ceremony rolled around.

Barcelona exited the Champions League in the semi-finals after Trent Alexander-Arnold's quickly-taken corner helped Liverpool achieve a ‘remontada' by winning 4-0 at Anfield. Liverpool went on to win the UEFA Champions League, making Virgil van Dijk a close contender for the Ballon d’Or.

This is easily the most contentious Ballon d’Or win Messi has ever had, and provides an extra chapter in the ever-growing list of Liverpool’s ‘nearly men’ in this award’s all-time stakes.

Percentage margins for Messi Ballon d’Or wins ranked

European champion again – 26.28% (2011)

Once again it was in a Champions League-winning season that Ronaldo enjoyed a biggest degree of dominance over long-term rival Ronaldo.

In fact, Barcelona won almost everything, only losing in the Copa del Rey to Cristiano’s Real Madrid. In a repeat of the 2009 Champions League decider, Barcelona defeated Manchester United 3-1, with Messi again scoring in the final.

Messi also scored 59 goals across 70 games in 2011, so it felt inevitable that he would become the second player to win three Ballon d’Or awards in a row, joining Michel Platini in this hallowed area.

He also became only the fourth player to reach three Ballons d’Or in total, with Marco van Basten and Johan Cruyff the others to achieve that feat at the time.

The Manita – 19.57% (2015)

Messi scooped a fifth Ballon d'Or after adding five team trophies to his already outrageous resume. In a team now led by Luis Enrique, Messi was the MVP in one of the best Barca sides ever to exist. Although they clinched the La Liga title by just two points over Real Madrid, simply having the nerve to win out in such a relentless title race was worthy of the Ballon d’Or in itself.

Although Messi didn’t score in the Champions League final, Barcelona’s dominant 3-1 victory over a Juventus side with Gianluigi Buffon between the sticks certainly helped the Argentine’s case for the Ballon d’Or. As, undoubtedly, did his double in a 3-0 semi-final first leg win over Bayern several weeks prior.

An individual masterpiece – 17.92% (2012)

The year 2012 was not the best year for Messi and Barcelona, with only a Copa del Rey to show for their efforts. However, Messi made what seemed impossible in 2012 possible, breaking one of the most impressive records in modern football.

With 85 goals in 1972, Gerd Müller held the record for the most goals scored in a single calendar year for four decades. That was until Messi managed to reach an unbelievable number of 91 goals (and 22 assists) across 69 games in 2012.

Five of those goals came in one game alone, on an unforgettable Nou Camp night that saw Barcelona thrash Leverkusen, Messi produced a performance that still transcends any earthly description, and one that will never be forgotten.

Spanish frustration continues – 5.29% (2010)

World Cup years always provide a golden opportunity for players to stake a claim for the Ballon d’Or. It isn’t necessarily a magic key to the award though, as both Andres Iniesta and Xavi found out in 2010, when Barcelona teammate Messi prevented either from becoming the first Ballon d’Or-winning Spaniard since Luis Suarez Minamontes in 1960.

Another contender was Wesley Sneijder, the maestro from Inter Milan had just won a Treble for his club and reached the final of the World Cup with the Netherlands. It was the first time the jury was composed of both journalists and captains & coaches of national teams. In the past, only journalists would vote – and Sneijder got the majority of the journalists’ vote in 2010.

But with Messi’s triumph, Barcelona became the second club after AC Milan to have the three finalists of the Ballon d’Or playing together at the club – albeit with a small difference, in that Messi, Iniesta and Xavi all came from La Masia, whilst AC Milan had players from abroad in their top trio.

Prediction: Will Messi win the Ballon d’Or in 2024?

In short, no. Messi’s days of clinching La Liga and Champions League doubles are over, so he is very unlikely to lift this award again. However, three of this year’s five likeliest candidates in current Ballon d’Or odds markets – namely Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal – did clinch said double at the end of 2023/24, with the latter also being a Euro 2024 winner.

In turn, Real Madrid could well do as Barcelona and MIlan have done in the past, and lock out the Ballon d’or podium later this month.