With all of the Haaland vs Messi debate, would Haaland have been the first player to win the Ballon d’Or without having participated in the World Cup that year?
With all of the Haaland vs Messi debate, would Haaland have been the first player to win the Ballon d’Or without having participated in the World Cup that year?
Ballon d’Or specifically had little to do with the World Cup in previous years and was Euro/UEFA Club competition centric (by definition).
In 86 for example despite Maradona being a rare player to really dominate a WC, and despite him playing in Italy, he was ineligible for the award due to nationality.
Also in 86, Linekar won the Golden Boot at the WC, finished top scorer in the English 1st Div (PL), scored a hat trick on his debut for Barca and still only finished second because he didn’t compete in a UEFA club completion.