Although the race for the Ballon d'Or is expected to be very fierce this year, historically, winners have also lifted the trophy by a narrow margin or even a single vote. Here's a look back at these precedents.

Although the race for the Ballon d'Or is expected to be very fierce this year, historically, winners have also lifted the trophy by a narrow margin or even a single vote. Here's a look back at these precedents.

1. In 1996, Sammer edged out Ronaldo. This was the smallest point difference between two first-place finishers in Ballon d'Or history. The award had just been opened the previous year to all players playing in continental Europe, regardless of nationality. Between European Championship winner and Bundesliga champion Matthias Sammer, and Ronaldo, who was on his way to winning the European Golden Boot for Barcelona, the difference was razor-thin: the German scored 144 points, the Brazilian 143, though the latter was ranked first more often (16 times to 13). In the end, the minuscule 0.13% difference determined the winner and runner-up.

2. The contest between Messi and Van Dijk. Messi's closest Ballon d'Or race was not against his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo. In 2019, with Liverpool winning the Champions League (defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the final) and finishing as Premier League runners-up, Van Dijk had good reason to believe he would win. But he encountered the legendary Messi. Messi was already the La Liga champion and top scorer, and Van Dijk ultimately narrowly lost. With 100 judges voting (compared to only 16 in the inaugural year of 1956), Messi received 686 points and Van Dijk 679 points, a difference of only 7 points. At 24.36% to 24.11%, the gap was only 0.25%, making it the second smallest percentage difference since 1996.

3. In 1966, Charlton won by a single vote. Thirty years before Sammer, Bobby Charlton also led Eusébio by 1 point. There were fewer voters then, only 22, and Charlton received 81 points while Eusébio received 80, a difference of 0.30%. As a World Cup winner with England, the midfield legend and Manchester United icon didn't benefit from English judges; that judge didn't even include him in his top five, preferring his compatriots Ball, Moore, and Hurst. Eusébio finished third with Portugal and was the World Cup's top scorer with 9 goals, but missed the chance to emulate Alfredo Di Stéfano, who was then the only player to have won the award twice.

4. In 1972, Beckenbauer won among domestic rivals. In 1972, the contest was exceptionally tight and concentrated, as the winner emerged from three players from the same country, West Germany, which had defeated the Soviet Union 3-0 in the European Championship. Ultimately, defender Franz Beckenbauer won the first of his two Ballon d'Or awards with 81 points, just 2 points more than teammates striker Gerd Müller and Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Günter Netzer. In fourth place was Dutchman Johan Cruyff with 73 points; he had been ranked first three times and second nine times. The point difference was truly minimal.

5. In 2024, Rodri overshadowed all Real Madrid players. In 2024, Real Madrid won the Spanish league with only one loss and also won the Champions League, with three players in the top four: Carvajal ranked 4th, Bellingham 3rd, and Vinícius 2nd with 1,129 points and 17.02% of the votes. But this was still not enough to beat Rodri: the Manchester City midfielder won the Premier League with Manchester City and the European Championship with Spain, ultimately receiving 1,170 points, accounting for 17.64%, 0.62% more than Vinícius. He suffered a right knee ACL tear in September and had to walk to the podium on crutches, bravely accepting his trophy.

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