Cristiano Ronaldo believes ‘the Ballon d’Or is losing credibility’ | OneFootball

In a recent interview with Record in Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo (38) has criticised football’s most prestigious individual awards including the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA Best Award.

Lionel Messi (36) was the most recent winner of the France Football award, picking up his eighth title in the process – the most of any player to have won the award. Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (23) and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé (25) were the 2022 World Cup winner’s closest competitors for the Ballon d’Or. Surprisingly, the Al-Nassr forward wasn’t even shortlisted for the award.

Commenting on football’s individual awards, the former Real Madrid attacker said, “Ballon d’Or and The Best are losing credibility.”

Records matter

The Portuguese international went on to speak about the importance of records when awarding these records, “It’s not to say that Messi didn’t deserve it, or Haaland or even Mbappé… but the numbers are there and the numbers don’t deceive. You have to consider the entire season”.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored 54 goals in 59 appearances in 2023 – the most of any player in the World. However, he wasn’t nominated for either the FIFA or France Football awards.

GFFN | Liam Wraith