Voting continues: Cristiano's landslide lead over Messi in the race for the greatest Ballon d'Or winner
The historic rivalry is renewed
The historic rivalry between Argentina's Lionel Messi, the Inter Miami star, and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, the Al-Nassr star, is back in the spotlight in an unprecedented way.
This time the contest between the two legends plays out through an official Ballon d'Or initiative.
The award's official platform has launched a vote to crown the greatest winner in its history, featuring ten football legends who have lifted the prize at least twice.
Voting opened in early October and runs until midnight on 27 October, Paris time.
According to Argentine network "tycsports", participants must pick a specific season from those in which each legend won the award.
Alongside the two biggest stars of the modern era, the list includes Ronaldo Nazario, Marco van Basten, Michel Platini, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Kevin Keegan, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff and Alfredo Di Stefano.
Here's the twist: each vote costs one euro, with an added incentive. Voters go into a draw for two tickets to this year's ceremony, plus a special photo with the award.
Fans can vote more than once, even in support of the same winner, and they can see the percentages each nominee has racked up.
So far, Cristiano Ronaldo's 2008 Ballon d'Or tops the list with a commanding 62% of the vote.
The Portuguese star landed that award at the peak of his powers with Manchester United, the first of his five individual honours.
Messi's 2012 Ballon d'Or, by contrast, has drawn just 13% of the total, despite crowning a historic season for the Argentine.
The network pointed out that his support is spread across his eight wins, with his 2023 title, won after lifting the World Cup in Qatar with Argentina, sitting second among his for popularity on 9%.
Next come Cristiano Ronaldo's awards for 2007 (7%) and 2016 (2%).
The remaining honours for both players fail to climb above 1%, and some editions register no percentage at all.
