From 2008 to 2023 Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated the international scene and the Ballon d’Or rankings. Most of the time the award was undeserved, but other times someone had objections. We asked ourselves: but if Messi and Ronaldo were born in another era, who would the Ballon d’Or winners of the last 15 years be? Only Luka Modric and Karim Benzema – and Covid – managed to stop the Argentine and the Portuguese.