Since AC Milan's Kaká won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA Player of the Year trophies in 2007, no player other than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi has been able to lift either of the two main individual trophies that exist in football.
Over the last few years, it's not just been familiar faces appearing at the center of ever-expanding award ceremonies, the procedure has also become routine. Recently, each win was quickly followed by the launch of a special boot to commemorate the not so special occasion, in the case of Ronaldo's most recent triumph it took less than 24 hours from the award announcement in London to the 'Melhor' limited-edition boots dropping and selling out the next morning. But perhaps all of this is just testament to the greatness of these two extraordinary talents.
Today, we want to take a look at all recent Ballon d'Or boots that were released Adidas and Nike for Messi and Ronaldo, respectively. It's a trend that started when Messi won a third consecutive Ballon d'Or in early 2012, although the boots back then were not released to he public.
2010 - Lionel Messi - Adidas F50 Adizero
Messi received a custom gold and black Adidas F50 Adizero for his second Ballon d'Or title. The boot was not sold.
2011 - Lionel Messi - Adidas F50 Adizero
Celebrating Messi's third Ballon d'Or title and based on the likely best Adidas Adizero model in history, the golden, white and black Adidas Messi 2012 Ballon d'Or soccer cleats take our silver. These boots (and all following Messi Ballon d'Or boots) were not released to the public, a key difference from Nike's CR7 editions.
2012 - Lionel Messi - Adidas F50 Adizero
The next boot followed just a year later, introducing a truly unique and unconventional design that saw a black upper combined with gold details, most importantly four sun graphics, one for each golden ball.
2013 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Nike Mercurial Vapor IX CR7
It took Nike until March 2014 to release the first-ever Cristiano Ronaldo Ballon d'Or boots, a classy white and gold edition that proved extremely popular as one of the first limited-edition football releases from the brand.
2014 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Nike Mercurial Superfly CR7 Rare Gold
A year on, the first Ballon d'Or Boot to be based on the Nike Mercurial Superfly IV, introduced for the 2014 World Cup, was released. Fading from gold to black, it was another very successful limited-edition launch for the Swoosh.
2015 - Lionel Messi - Adidas Messi 15 Platinum
Messi won his most recent Ballon d'Or in early 2016 on the back of a treble-winning 2014-15 campaign. This time, Adidas went for an understated white and platinum effort, once again refraining from a public release.
2016 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Nike Mercurial Superfly V CR7 Vitórias
In 2016, Nike went white for the first time, combining a subtly fading upper with gold-metallic and iridescent detailing.
2017 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Nike Mercurial Superfly V CR7 Melhor * The Best Award
For the 2017 'The Best' award, Nike played it safe with a subtle update of Cristiano Ronaldo's most recent signature colorway. However, with the Ballon d'Or on the horizon, we expect another, hopefully more interesting boot to follow shortly.
2017 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Nike Mercurial Superfly V CR7 'Quinto Triunfo'
To commemorate CR7 winning his fifth Ballon d'Or title Nike released a spectacular gold and white boots for the Portuguese, named the Nike Mercurial Superfly V CR7 SE 'Quinto Triunfo'.
2018 - Luka Modric - Nike Mercurial Luka Modric * The Best Award
Luka Modric received a spectacular Nike Mercurial Vapor 360 boot for his FIFA The Best award. The boot has not been worn by him, however.
2018 - Mbappe, Modric or Cristiano Ronaldo - Nike Mercurial Superfly 360
Nike's 2018 Ballon d'Or boot has been already leaked - it is now known yet who will win the award, however, with Modric, Mbappe and Ronaldo the most likely winners. It is also possible that Puma's Griezmann will win the trophy.
Bonus - 2016 - Lionel Messi - Adidas Messi 16+ Pureagility
Despite never being released, pictures of what would have been Messi's 2016 Ballon d'Or boots surfaced in March this year, showcasing a truly special design based on the Messi 16+ Pureagility model.
Which of the so far released Adidas and Nike Ballon d'Or boots is your favorite? Drop us a line below.