The 2008 Ballon d'Or (), given to the best football player in the world as judged by an international panel of sports journalists, was awarded on 2 December 2008. Cristiano Ronaldo won the award, being his first of five. His win also began a 10-year dominance of the award between him and Lionel Messi — which eventually led to an intense rivalry between the two. Both players had won five Ballon d'Or awards before the dominance was ended in 2018 by Luka Modrić.
Rankings RankPlayerNationalityClub(s)Points1Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United4462Lionel Messi Barcelona2813Fernando Torres Liverpool1794Iker Casillas Real Madrid1335Xavi Barcelona976Andrey Arshavin Zenit Saint Petersburg647David Villa Valencia558Zlatan Ibrahimović Inter Milan309Kaká AC Milan2910Steven Gerrard Liverpool2811Marcos Senna Villarreal1612Emmanuel Adebayor Arsenal1213Wayne Rooney Manchester United1114Sergio Agüero Atlético Madrid1015Frank Lampard Chelsea816Franck Ribéry Bayern Munich717Samuel Eto'o Barcelona618Gianluigi Buffon Juventus519Michael Ballack Chelsea4Cesc Fàbregas Arsenal421Didier Drogba Chelsea3Sergio Ramos Real Madrid3Nemanja Vidić Manchester United324Edwin van der Sar Manchester United2Ruud van Nistelrooy Real Madrid226Karim Benzema Lyon0Pepe Real Madrid0Luca Toni Bayern Munich0Rafael van der Vaart Hamburg Real Madrid0Yuri Zhirkov CSKA Moscow0
References
External links France Football Official Ballon d'Or page