2008 Ballon d'Or | |
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![]() 2008 Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo | |
Date | 2 December 2008 |
Location | Paris, France |
Country | France |
Presented by | France Football |
Highlights | |
Won by | ![]() |
Website | www |
The 2008 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in the world as judged by an international panel of sports journalists,[1] was awarded on 2 December 2008.[2] 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.