That’s the opinion of Antoine Griezmann, who reckons instead that the highly-coveted annual award should go to a winner of the World Cup. Griezmann was a member of the France team that won the tournament for just the second time, and the first since 1998, against Croatia in Russia.
And he thinks Les Bleus’ achievement outranks that of the likes of Messi, who won La Liga and the Copa del Rey with Barcelona, and Ronaldo – who won a third Champions League title with Real Madrid.
Of the 30-man list of nominees, six were part of France’s World Cup-winning squad – Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, Raphael Varane and Hugo Lloris.
Griezmann previously slammed the three-man shortlist for the The Best award – Ronaldo, Modric and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah – slating: “It’s a FIFA award and there’s no Frenchmen. It’s weird.”
No player other than Messi and Ronaldo have won the Ballon d’Or since 2008 although Modric has been tipped as a potential winner this year having already snapped up several accolades.
Atletico Madrid striker Griezmann, however, is keen to see one of his compatriots take the big prize – with the 27-year-old himself arguably the most likely France star to do so.
“We are world champions, we’re part of the best team in the world,” Griezmann toldFrance Football. In this best team in the world, there must be the best player in the world, right? In any case, that’s what I think. Afterwards, there are votes, opinions, different judgements. But I think that a Frenchman must win the Ballon d’Or this year.”
On his own hopes of taking the prestigious trophy, Griezmann added: “For me, it’s a dream. Historically, the Ballon d’Or is the best of the best. “There are only star players, only legends among the winners. It would be a dream to become an example to others.”
Similarly to Griezmann, Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba thinks one of Didier Deschamps’ squad should claim the Ballon d’Or – but distanced himself from contention.
He told AFP: “Whether it’s Grizou [Griezmann], Kylian [Mbappe] or Raph [Varane], they deserve it much more than me.
“I can not designate one. But I hope with all my heart that this is one of the three.
“One of the four also because there is NG [Kante]. That’s all I hope for anyway, because there are many who deserve it. I do not put myself in.”
The winner of the award – which is decided by journalists from 173 different nations – will be announced in Paris on December 3.
“Kylian reminds me of Cristiano when he was in Manchester,” Griezmann told France Football.
“Cristiano was the guy out wide, doing a lot of dribbling and occasionally scoring. He was not looking for goals, though.
“When Kylian does what Cristiano did in Madrid, thinking only about scoring, then he will do the same. He will be scoring 50 goals per season.”