Cristiano Ronaldo Reacts To Claims Messi 'Stole' Ballon d'Or

Lionel Messi won his record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or trophy on Monday, and mixed reactions have been pouring in from across the globe. Many congratulated the Argentine for the accolade, while there are those who do not seem as convinced and one of them appears be his biggest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Eagle-eyed fans were quick to spot the Portuguese star's reaction to a video shared by Spanish outlet Diario AS wherein journalist Tomas Roncero is sharing his reaction to Messi's victory. Messi received the award in a ceremony in Paris, besting Manchester City ace Erling Haaland and his former Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe.

For the first time in two whole decades, Ronaldo did not make the shortlist for the award.

Roncero was not convinced that Messi deserved the award this year. In the video, he said: "Hello friends. What we knew happened, they were going to give Messi another Ballon d'Or again.

"He went to retire in Miami, even though he already looked like he was retired at PSG preparing for the World Cup. He won the World Cup, yes, good, but with six penalties... The World Cup was ten months ago, it's November."

Roncero did not stop there, apart from the current award, he shared his opinion that Messi should have only won the award five times. He claims that on three other occasions, other players deserved to win over the Argentine.

"Messi has eight Ballon d'Or trophies, he should have had five. He has [Andres] Iniesta/Xavi's Ballon d'Or, [Robert] Lewandowski's who won six trophies in one season and [Erling] Haaland's who was the top scorer."

Roncero was speaking about Messi's former FC Barcelona teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez, who were both part of highly successful years both for the club and for Spain. He may be referring to Messi's win in 2010, wherein both former Barcelona stars helped Spain with the FIFA World Cup sandwiched by two European Championship titles.

Meanwhile, current Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski was the favourite to win the award in 2020, but it was not awarded due to the coronavirus pandemic. He narrowly lost out to the Argentine in 2021 when the award was given out again, in a year when Messi had already signed for PSG. Lewandowski had a massively successful year while Messi's was largely underwhelming in comparison.

This year, Roncero is not the first to argue that Haaland had a strong case, having led Manchester City to a treble of titles in 2022/23. Following his arrival, Pep Guardiola's side powered through the season, winning the Premier League, the FA Cup as well as their maiden UEFA Champions League trophy.

Despite that, Messi picked up a record eighth Ballon d'Or award based primarily on Argentina's World Cup win in Qatar last year.

In response to Roncero's video, Ronaldo commented with a set of laugh/cry emojis.

The pair have had a rivalry over the years, and Messi's latest win has put Ronaldo in the back foot with five Ballon d'Or trophies in his cabinet. The gap is now immense, and the chances are slim that Ronaldo or anyone for that matter, could still equal Messi's record.

While the Portuguese star, who now plays for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, did not put any words in his comment, some fans are saying that he is shamelessly calling the award a "joke".

Some slammed Ronaldo for the reaction, calling him "childish", while others agree with Roncero's assessment, calling Messi's win a "robbery". Messi fans consider the GOAT debate to be over, but it seems that Ronaldo's fans are using his comment to reignite the debate. Now, even fans of both Haaland and Mbappe are joining in the frenzy.