Mbappé is not happy about Messi's latest plan in Qatar 2022

Karim Benzema won the 2022 Ballon d'Or for his stellar efforts in 2021-22. The results of this year's awards revealed a sea change as both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi recorded incredibly disappointing finishes in the ballot. Previously, at least one or both players had finished in the top three of the vote every single year since 2007.

Ronaldo and Messi first appeared together in the top three of the Ballon d'Or vote back in that year, when they finished second and third respectively behind Kaka. Ronaldo then ascended to his first Ballon d'Or in 2008, sparking an era of domination for himself and his rival as they shared the next 10 awards between them.

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Messi moved in front by winning his sixth career Ballon d'Or in 2019 after scoring 51 goals and laying on 19 assists in 49 matches during the 2018-19 season, the campaign in which he won his final La Liga title as a Barcelona player. Messi and Ronaldo were separated on the podium by Virgil van Dijk, who finished in the silver-medal spot after his heroics for Liverpool in their Champions League.

Despite most major leagues eventually completing after the first global lockdown, the decision was taken not to hand out an award in 2020. This was cruel to the Polish international Robert Lewandowski who enjoyed a similar year to the one Benzema had to scoop the award in 2022. The FIFA Best award he won instead was no consolation.

End of an era?

Having departed Barcelona to join Paris Saint-Germain, Messi won his last Ballon d'Or in 2021, though it came as a shock to many fans who felt that Robert Lewandowski was a certainty to win the award after he spearheaded the German giants' Champions League triumph. Is the glorious Messi-Ronaldo Ballon d'Or duopoly finally over? The 2022 Ballon d'Or result certainly looks ominous for the pair.