Messi has eight Ballon d’Ors to his name – but one football icon believes he could have had more.
Lionel Messi has been told that he could have had up to 15 Ballon d’Or awards if he had copied a strategy used by Cristiano Ronaldo in his career.
Messi and Ronaldo have dominated the Ballon d’Or rankings for the past 15 years, with Messi collecting a record eight awards.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, has scooped the prize on five separate occasions, with 2023 being the first time he had failed to be among the nominees for 20 years