Many people seem to have misunderstood my last tweet. I was implying that "ranking > award" because the award is based on the ranking!

Rank 1 = Balon D'or winner.

However, in some years like 2018, Messi/Ronaldo did not get Rank 1, so we are just going to ignore those years?

Why? Did they not play football? Why should we not consider who was better during that year?

Ronaldo still got 2nd, Messi 5th.
The point is to compare Messi and Ronaldo every year, by Balon D'or rankings. Its better than just looking at who won the Balon D'or more times.

Still not getting it? Thats okay!

Let's consider this hypothetical scenario so that its crystal clear:

Year 1:
Player A: 1st
Player B: 2nd

Year 2:
Player A: 3rd
Player B: 2nd

Year 3:
Player A: 3rd
Player B: 2nd

Year 4:
Player A: 3rd
Player B: 2nd

Who was the better player over those 4 years?

Player A wins the Balon Dor once more than Player B. However, Player B has ranked higher than him in 3 of the 4 years.

Judging by Balon D'or, is it better to look at awards or ranking in this case? You see my point?

Having said all that, I am by no means saying the Balon D'or is credible. For example, Messi should have finished higher than 5th in 2018 in my opinion. But that's NOT THE POINT.

The point is, if you want to talk about Balon D'or, use rankings NOT AWARDS.

Thank you.