Thierry Henry & Micah Richards' reaction to Carragher being joint with Ronaldo in 2005 Ballon d'Or | OneFootball

Highlights

Hype is really starting to build as fans prepare for the results of this year's Ballon d'Or voting. The award ceremony takes places Monday the 30th of October in Paris, where 30 of the best performing players of the last 12 months will battle it out for the crown of the world's greatest player.

Despite the 30-man shortlist, this year's award is expected to be a two-horse race between Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland, although if you believe some reports, the winner has already been decided and it's the Argentinian.

Messi secured 'GOAT' status in the eyes of many with Argentina's World Cup victory back in December 2022, but record-breaking Haaland certainly deserves a mention as well in this year's Ballon d'Or race after his treble-winning season and 50+ goal tally.

With the likes of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominating Ballon d'Or voting over the last 15 years, it's easy to forget some of the names who have been nominated in the past.

that had the cast of CBS Sports Golazo in stiches.

The panel show, hosted by Kate Abdo, features footballing legend Thierry Henry, Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher, and everyone's favourite City joker Micah Richards.

Last night's show brought up the conversation of forgotten names from Ballon d'Or votes of years gone by, with the 2005 list being discussed in particular. The list is quite staggering, full of huge superstar names and true legends of that era. Ronaldinho was the winner of the prize that year, with Englishmen Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard coming second and third respectfully, just ahead of CBS's own Henry in fourth place.

In usual classy fashion, Henry was quick to remain humble about his fourth-place finish and laugh it off, before the team exploded into laughter with the discovery of who was in 20th on the 2005 list. In joint 20th place, alongside a young upcoming player by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo, was Liverpool's very own local hero Jamie Carragher. The crew were in bits and Jamie's reaction was hilarious, with him screaming "get that on socials now!"

In all seriousness, Carragher being so high up that list is a massive achievement, with many forgetting how good he really was back in the day, especially in that year, with Liverpool coming off the back of their famous Champions League final comeback in Istanbul.

Video: Henry & Richards react to Carra's 2005 Ballon d'Or inclusion

With all the banter that goes around between the pundits on CBS' panel show, you would be forgiven in thinking that Carragher was an average player in his day, especially when he is sat next to Thierry Henry of all people, but it's definitely not the case.

Once the laughter had died down in the studio, Carra then quickly spotted that he was only two positions lower in voting than Zinedine Zidane, causing another celebration from the Reds legend.

These guys are hilarious together, but segments like this are what makes the show interesting too, it's not all just about banter, but fans can also take trips down memory lane with discussions like this one. It would now be fascinating to look back through some of the old Ballon d'Or nominees from other years to see what forgotten names from the past will crop up.

No offense to Carragher, and we're sure he would have heard this dig from his CBS peers, but if he has made it onto the list, then anyone can, maybe even Micah Richards!