The Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is recognized as the winner of the "Golden Ball" of all time earlier, the organizers of the award for the best soccer player in the world at the end of the year started voting to choose the best winner of the award in history. Among the candidates were players who received the Ballon d'Or at least twice. As a result, Ronaldo took the top spot as the 2008 award winner while playing for Manchester United. Lionel Messi (2012) in second place, Ronaldo again in third place (2017).