Lionel Messi has created another piece of Ballon d’Or history at the age of 39, breaking a record previously held by Cristiano Ronaldo and becoming the first player ever to span 20 years between his first and most recent nomination for the prestigious award.Messi’s inclusion on the 2026 Ballon d’Or shortlist, announced by France Football on Tuesday, means his story with the award now stretches from 2006 to 2026. No player before him had managed to remain a Ballon d’Or nominee across such a long period.
Messi’s Ballon d’Or journey now covers two decades
Messi first appeared among the Ballon d’Or nominees in 2006, when he was still a teenage Barcelona player. He received two votes that year, beginning what has become one of the longest individual runs in the history of the award.Twenty years later, he is still there.His nomination for 2026 takes his career total to 17 Ballon d’Or nominations, according to Spanish newspaper AS, putting him second behind Ronaldo for the overall number of appearances on the shortlist.But Messi now has something his great rival never achieved: the longest span between a player’s first and latest Ballon d’Or nominations.Ronaldo previously held that record after appearing on the shortlist from 2004 to 2022, a span of 18 years.Messi’s new mark stretches that to 20 years.The all-time list for the longest span between first and most recent Ballon d’Or nominations now has Messi at the top, followed by Ronaldo with 18 years, Luka Modrić with 16, Karim Benzema with 15 and Paolo Maldini with 14.It is a different kind of record from simply accumulating nominations. Ronaldo still leads Messi for the total number of appearances, with 18 nominations to Messi’s 17, but Messi has now surpassed him for longevity.And that distinction makes the latest nomination particularly remarkable.Messi is no longer in the phase of his career when a Ballon d’Or nomination would be considered routine. At 39, he is now the oldest player to be nominated in the 21st century, surpassing Ronaldo’s previous mark of 37 when he was nominated in 2022.The all-time record remains with Stanley Matthews, who was 41 when he won the inaugural Ballon d’Or in 1956.Also read: Despite a 4-year snub, Ronaldo still holds one major Ballon d’Or record Messi perhaps will never match
From teenage nominee to eight-time winner
Messi’s first nomination was only the beginning of an extraordinary relationship with the award.He has since gone on to win the Ballon d’Or a record eight times, more than any other player in history.His victories came in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023.Ronaldo remains second with five wins, meaning the pair have dominated the award to an extent no other players have matched. They are the only two players to have won the Ballon d’Or more than once this century.Messi’s 2026 nomination therefore creates an unusual split between the two rivals.Ronaldo still has more total nominations — 18 to 17 — while Messi now owns the record for the longest period between a player’s first and latest nomination.And Messi has managed to set that record despite spending the final stages of his career outside Europe’s traditional football powerhouses.He is the only active MLS player included on the 2026 men’s shortlist, standing alone among the representatives from Major League Soccer while the rest of the 30-player list is largely made up of stars from Europe’s leading competitions and the Saudi Pro League.His nomination comes after another major international campaign with Argentina.Messi helped Argentina reach the 2026 World Cup final, scoring eight goals and providing four assists during the tournament. He also briefly became the all-time leading World Cup scorer with 21 goals, before Kylian Mbappé overtook him. The campaign added another remarkable chapter to an international career that has already included the World Cup and Copa AméricaAlso read: Despite a 4-year snub, Ronaldo still holds one major Ballon d’Or record Messi perhaps will never matchAlso read: Why Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t nominated for the 2026 Ballon d’OrHe had also announced his international retirement last month, making his continued presence on the Ballon d’Or shortlist even more striking.At club level, Messi also enjoyed a successful domestic campaign with Inter Miami, completing a domestic double before returning to the Ballon d’Or shortlist.That does not necessarily make him the favourite to win the prize this year. Rodri currently leads the contenders, with players such as Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal also among the leading candidates after their respective seasons and the events of the World Cup.But the significance of Messi’s nomination goes beyond whether he wins another trophy.A teenager who first appeared on the Ballon d’Or list in 2006 has now been nominated again in 2026, two full decades later.Ronaldo’s 18-year span once represented the benchmark for longevity at the very top of the award.Messi has now moved past it.
