After several days in which the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics) has been shedding light on the best players of the decade by confederation, as well as the best team, the turn of the maximum trophy has come, that of the most outstanding footballer between 2011 and 2020. The struggle was assumed exciting, as it has been, between Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the best in CONMEBOL and UEFA, respectively, and it was finally the Argentine star who took the lead. Messi is the best of the past decade ahead of Cristiano and Andrés Iniesta, who closes the podium.
“The world duel between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two best players of the decade, was fascinating and uncertain until the end of the voting. Messi and Ronaldo will definitely enter the history of football! “, read the IFFHS communication on its official website. Those in charge of voting have been the members of the aforementioned Federation, spread over more than 150 countries. Neymar and Sergio Ramos complete the first five places, in which Real Madrid and Barcelona shine, since three players with Barça past and / or present and two madridistas have been the winners.
| Pos. | Player | country |
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Argentina |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal |
| 3 | Andres Iniesta | Spain |
| 4 | Neymar | Brazil |
| 5 | Sergio Ramos | Spain |
| 6 | Manuel Neuer | Germany |
| 7 | Robert Lewandowski | Poland |
| 8 | Gianluigi Buffon | Italy |
| 9 | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Sweden |
| 10 | Luka Modric | Croatia |
No one is surprised that the fight went to two, since all the Ballons d’Or distributed in the decade have been named after Messi or Cristiano, except for the 2018 edition in which Luka Modric put an end to the tyrannical binomial. With four awards per head (In 2020, due to the pandemic, it has not been delivered), the decade has been a matter of two and their rivalry can hardly be repeated. In addition, having led Barça and Madrid, planetary arch enemies, put the legendary duel in greater value. Now, with 33 years the culé and 36 the bianconero, they still have things to say in the current decade.
Spain, the only one that repeats
The Croatian midfielder has achieved, in extremis, be part of the top-10, since it occupies the tenth position. Manuel Neuer, Robert Lewandowski, Gianluigi Buffon and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, from sixth to ninth, respectively, are the rest of the stars crowned by the IFFHS. Regarding the count by countries, Spain is the only nationality with more than one player on the list (Iniesta and Ramos), a fact that speaks of the good health of Spanish football. In the female category, the Brazilian Marta has beaten Carli Lloyd (United States), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany), Ada Hegerberg (Norway) and Alex Morgan (United States).