Just two days after the prestigious Ballon d'Or ceremony in London, where Harry Kane was proudly (and thoroughly deservedly) crowned the winner, French magazine France Football unveiled a new poll, the results of which were announced last night.The award, dubbed B.O.A.T. (Ballon d'Or Of All Time), was created to recognise the greatest individual performance in football history to have earned a player the sport's most prestigious individual accolade. And the winner is Cristiano Ronaldo, or more precisely, his first Ballon d'Or triumph in 2008.🚨✨ OFFICIAL: Ballon d’Or announce Cristiano Ronaldo 2008 has been voted as the BEST BALLON D’OR OF ALL TIME. 🌕 https://t.co/gr3nYytkiu— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 28, 2026 In the race for the B.O.A.T. award, which is largely symbolic, CR7 came out on top ahead of Lionel Messi and his remarkable achievements in 2012. Interestingly, the two greatest rivals of modern football occupied the top 12 spots in the rankings, with Ronaldo Nazario coming next for his performances in 2002, when he played a pivotal role in Brazil's World Cup triumph in Japan and South Korea.Looking back at 2008, Cristiano won the Ballon d'Or by a landslide, collecting 446 points to Messi's 281, followed by three Spaniards: Fernando Torres (179), Iker Casillas (133), and Xavi Hernandez (97).The then 23-year-old Portuguese superstar enjoyed a dream season in a Manchester United shirt. He helped the English giants win the Premier League, scoring 31 goals, and the Champions League, finding the net in the final. His remarkable goalscoring exploits also earned him the European Golden Shoe, ahead of Dani Guiza.Henry hits back at critics: "Relax! I love Yamal and Kane"Unlike the traditional Ballon d'Or voting process, in which sports journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings cast their votes, this time the final say belonged to the readers of the French magazine.The rules were fairly straightforward: only players who had won the Ballon d'Or at least twice during their careers were eligible, with each of their individual triumphs treated as a separate entry.20.00: (5.40) Konyaspor (4.40) Galatasaray (1.55)Fans were thus given the opportunity to step into the shoes of the jury members, albeit at a price. Each vote cost one euro, and every additional euro spent entitled the voter to cast another ballot.According to France Football, 5,009 people voted more than once. Of those, 44 cast between 10 and 26 votes, while 300 voted between five and nine times. The largest group consisted of 4,665 participants who voted between two and four times.The credibility of this poll is questionable, to say the least. First and foremost, because participants were allowed to vote multiple times.He is the one: Kane wins Ballon d'Or!But there are other questions worth asking, too. What was the age profile of the voters? How much did they actually know about football history?Take Marco van Basten's 1988 Ballon d'Or triumph, for example. It finished as low as 20th in the rankings, despite the extraordinary Dutchman winning the European Championship with the Netherlands that year, finishing as the tournament's top scorer and producing arguably the greatest goal in European Championship history.He also won the European Cup and Serie A with AC Milan, scoring 33 goals during the 1988/89 season.Football belongs to the fans! Thank you to all the fans around the world, the Ballon D’Or of All Time is also yours. https://t.co/S0sLDNiUUY— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) October 29, 2026 None of that, of course, stopped Cristiano Ronaldo from proudly showing off his latest accolade…"Football belongs to the fans! Thank you to all the fans around the world, the Ballon D’Or of All Time is also yours," the Portuguese wrote on his social media.