Who are the youngest Ballon d'Or winners? Where would Vinicius Jr rank within that list if he had won the award? Read on to find out!
For a very long time, the Real Madrid and Brazil international star was the odds-on favourite with bookmakers to pick up the accolade for 2024 after winning both the La Liga title and UEFA Champions League (UCL) with Los Blancos, scoring important goals along the way, including in the UCL final against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium.
However, with widespread media reports claiming that Real Madrid have not sent a delegation to the awards ceremony in Paris, Vinicius looks to have missed his chance to join an esteemed '24 and under' group of Ballon d'Or winners.
With no further ado, here is our ‘butterfly effect' list of the youngest Ballon d'Or winners, and where Vini would have ranked had events gone in his favour.
Youngest Ballon d'Or winners: The ‘top 10' if Vinicius had won
10. Johan Cruyff (24 years, 8 months and 3 days)
Kicking off the list is the legendary Johan Cruyff, who won the Ballon d'Or in 1971 just a few months shy of his 25th birthday. This was the first of three that he won in total, as the Dutchman was recognised for winning the European Cup with Ajax.
*9. Vinicius Jr (24 years, 3 months and 16 days)
Vinicius Jr would have ranked as the ninth-youngest winner of the Ballon d'Or.
8. Marco van Basten (24 years, 1 month and 27 days)
Coming in just a couple of months younger when he won his maiden Ballon d'Or in 1988 – the first of three for the legendary Dutch footballer. He helped the Netherlands win the UEFA European Championships that year, scoring the famous scissor-kick volley from an acute angle that still goes down as one of the best goals ever scored.
7. Eusebio (23 years, 11 months and 3 days)
The first of two Portuguese representatives on this list (no prizes for guessing who the other is), Eusebio won his one and only Ballon d'Or in 1965 just a few weeks before turning 24 years of age. His goalscoring record for Benfica during that time was simply phenomenal, as he netted a total of 48 goals in just 36 games in all competitions over the course of the 1964/65 campaign.
6. Cristiano Ronaldo (23 years, 9 months and 29 days)
Perhaps surprisingly, Cristiano Ronaldo only ranks in sixth place on the list, given just how early he peaked at Manchester United and then Real Madrid. He won the first of five Ballon d'Ors in 2008 while playing at Old Trafford, before picking up the other four during his time at the Santiago Bernabeu.
5. Oleg Blokhin (23 years, 1 month and 25 days)
A name younger readers perhaps may not recognise comes next in Oleg Blokhin, who became the second of three players from the Soviet Union to win the Ballon d'Or, coming after the only goalkeeper to ever win the award in Lev Yashin in 1963. Blokhin won his 12 years later in 1975, after winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup with Dynamo Kyiv and scoring no fewer than 23 goals in that year.
4. George Best (22 years, 7 months and 2 days)
The first British player on the list comes in the form of Northern Irishman George Best, who won the Ballon d'Or in 1968. This was after he stood out in a Manchester United side that won the European Cup that year, as Best netted in the final in a 4-1 victory after extra-time against Benfica.
3. Lionel Messi (22 years, 5 months and 7 days)
Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d'Or a record eight times, and is also the current holder after winning it in 2023, as he picked up his first-ever FIFA World Cup trophy by helping Argentina win it in Qatar the previous year. Messi won his first Ballon d'Or in 2009 at the age of just 22, after he helped FC Barcelona win La Liga, the UCL and many other titles in a dominant era for the Spanish giants.
2. Michael Owen (22 years, 0 months and 4 days)
The youngest Englishman to ever win the Ballon d'Or was Michael Owen, who scooped up the prestigious award in 2001, just four days after his 22nd birthday. The young striker helped Liverpool win a treble in the League Cup, UEFA Cup and FA Cup, scoring two late goals in the final of the latter at the Millennium Stadium as the Reds completely turned the game around into their favour against fellow Premier League ‘big six' rivals Arsenal.
1. Ronaldo (21 years, 3 months and 5 days)
The original, Brazilian Ronaldo is the only player to win the Ballon d'Or at the tender age of 21 or younger. He won his first in 1997 while starring for both Inter Milan and the Brazil national team, and remains to this day the youngest Ballon d'Or winner ever.
