Cristiano Ronaldo has enjoyed an illustrious career, winning over 30 major trophies, including five Champions League titles, making him one of the most decorated players in football history. Since his professional debut for Sporting Lisbon in 2002, the Portuguese forward has won five Ballon d'Or awards, which is only bettered by his great rival Lionel Messi, who has eight. He has also won other respected European awards, such as the UEFA Men's Player of the Year three times and the European Golden Shoe on four occasions.

Despite all this, the 39-year-old has never won the Golden Boy Award. He was only eligible to win it for three years and narrowly missed out on it each time. Here is why he never got his hands on the trophy and who won it instead of one of the greatest football players of all time.

How is Golden Boy Award Decided

The Golden Boy Award began in 2003 and is given to a player under the age of 21 who plays in the top flight of a European league. Tuttosport established the award, and since 2003, sports journalists from 11 newspapers across Europe have participated in the voting to decide the winner. Notable outlets included in the voting process are L'Equipe, The Times, and Bild.

Each newspaper ranks five players under the age of 21 in order of who they believe has performed well throughout the last calendar year. The best player receives 10 points, while the second, third, fourth, and fifth-ranked youngsters receive seven, five, three and one, respectively. At the end of this voting process, the player with the most points is awarded the prize of Golden Boy.

Why Cristiano Ronaldo Missed Out on Golden Boy Award

In the first three editions of the Golden Boy, Ronaldo was eligible to win it. At 18 years of age, the Portuguese teenager joined Manchester United for £12m after spending a couple of years at Sporting. In his first season at the club, he played 40 times in all competitions, scoring six times and registering eight assists. After his impressive year for the Red Devils, he narrowly missed out on the award to Rafael van der Vaart, who excelled at Ajax and was a couple of years older than Ronaldo.

The following year, Ronaldo missed out to his teammate Wayne Rooney. In the 2004/05 season, Rooney scored 17 goals in all competitions for United, establishing himself as one of the key players in the team. Meanwhile, Ronaldo's impact at the club was increasing, but he only managed nine goals in 50 appearances. In 2005, Lionel Messi won the award, which was the Portuguese forward's last year of eligibility to win the coveted prize. While the Argentinian was the centre of attention at the start of his career, it took Ronaldo a little bit longer to establish himself as one of the elite players in Europe. The 39-year-old has spoken about the importance of Sir Alex Ferguson to his development, especially in his first few years at United. He said:

How Many Golden Boy Winners Have Won The Ballon d'Or

Only one player out of the 24 has gone on to win the Ballon d'Or. That is, of course, Messi, who won the Golden Boy in 2005 before winning his first Ballon d'Or four years later. Since then, he went on to define the award alongside Ronaldo, with the two players, who both feature among the greatest athletes of all time, winning 13 between them, enjoying near-total dominance from 2008 until 2021.

Whether Bellingham, Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi or the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland can break this record in the next few years remains to be seen. It doesn't look like it will be changing any time soon, though with the award being won by five different players in the past five years.