Ronaldo’s 2008 Voted the Greatest Ballon d’Or Season Ever: Why Fans Chose It
Fans picked Ronaldo’s 2008 season with Manchester United as the greatest Ballon d’Or season ever with 75%. The season’s numbers, the Moscow final and the 2008 vote.
Fans have voted Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2007–08 season with Manchester United the greatest Ballon d’Or–winning season of all time in the B.O.A.T. poll, whose result was announced on Wednesday 28 October 2026. The season took 75% of the vote, far ahead of Lionel Messi’s 2012.
Here is the result, what happened in that season, and the limits of this kind of poll.
What happened?
- Ronaldo’s 2008 season took 75% of the vote. Messi’s 2012 came second with 9% and Ronaldo’s 2017 third with 6%.
- The vote was on individual seasons, not on players overall.
- The poll is not an official award. The organisers stressed that no trophy is given; the percentages reflect only the fans who took part.
- The Ballon d’Or account announced the result with the line “CRISTIANO RONALDO IS THE ULTIMATE BOAT”.
The numbers behind the season fans picked
- Total: 42 goals for United in all competitions: 31 in the Premier League, 8 in the Champions League and 3 in the FA Cup (none in the League Cup or Community Shield). Friendlies are not counted.
- Premier League: 31 goals, equalling Alan Shearer’s record for a 38-game season, and the league’s Golden Boot.
- European Golden Shoe: won seven goals clear of Liverpool striker Fernando Torres.
- League title: United finished on 87 points, two ahead of Chelsea (85), for the club’s tenth Premier League title under Sir Alex Ferguson.
- Ronaldo’s first hat-trick for United came in a 6–0 win over Newcastle.
- Community Shield: United won it against Chelsea in August 2007.
The Moscow final
United and Chelsea played the Champions League final on 21 May 2008 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, the first all-English final in the competition’s history.
- Ronaldo headed United in front in the 26th minute from a Wes Brown cross; Frank Lampard equalised shortly before half-time.
- It finished 1–1 after extra time, and Didier Drogba was sent off four minutes from the end for slapping Nemanja Vidić.
- United won the shoot-out 6–5. Ronaldo missed his kick, then John Terry’s effort hit the post.
- Edwin van der Sar saved Nicolas Anelka’s penalty to win it.
How he won the 2008 Ballon d’Or
The award was announced in Paris on 2 December 2008 and was the first of his five Ballons d’Or:
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) | 446 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) | 281 |
| 3 | Fernando Torres (Liverpool) | 179 |
| 4 | Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) | 133 |
| 5 | Xavi (Barcelona) | 97 |
What does this mean?
- The official Ballon d’Or is decided by a points vote of journalists; B.O.A.T. is an open fan poll. The first is more rigorous, the second a better gauge of popularity.
- Reports said Ronaldo stood at 62% at one stage of the voting before reaching 75%, and that repeat votes were allowed, so the result is not a neutral verdict.
The result does not settle the Ronaldo–Messi debate: it ranks one season per player, not two careers. Also follow Real Madrid, where Ronaldo played after 2008.
Sources
This article was last updated: 30 October 2026 01:54
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