Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2008 season at Manchester United has been voted the greatest Ballon d’Or year ever, winning the inaugural Ballon d’Or of All Time, known as BOAT, in a fan poll run by France Football and reported on October 29.

Lionel Messi’s 2012 campaign, in which he scored 91 goals for club and country, finished second. Voters therefore preferred Ronaldo’s first Golden Ball to the Argentine’s record-breaking year, in a result that has revived the long-running debate between the pair.

France Football launched the award after its most recent gala. Unlike the regular prize, which is decided by a panel of international journalists, BOAT handed the decision to supporters, who chose a single winning season and not a whole career.

Only players with at least two Golden Balls were eligible. Besides Ronaldo and Messi, the list included Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, Marco van Basten, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Kevin Keegan, Franz Beckenbauer, Alfredo Di Stefano and Brazil’s Ronaldo Nazario.

Voting began on October 1, and each vote cost one euro. Participants received a digital image of the first Ballon d’Or from 1956 and entries into a draw for two tickets to the 2027 ceremony.

The fee did not deter repeat voters. In all, 5,009 people voted more than once: 4,665 cast two to four votes, 300 voted five to nine times, and 44 fans voted between 10 and 26 times.

Ronaldo and Messi shared the top 12 places between them. Ronaldo’s 2017 season came third, followed by Messi’s 2023, then Ronaldo’s 2016 and 2014 in fifth and sixth, with Messi’s 2015 seventh.

Ronaldo’s 2013 season took eighth, ahead of Messi’s 2011 and 2009 in ninth and tenth. Ronaldo Nazario was the first other player to break through, in 13th place, thanks to his 2002 triumph.

France Football did not publish vote totals, only the final order. The contest also left Cruyff, Platini, Van Basten and the other past winners well behind the two modern giants.