Ahead of the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony, Piers Morgan has once again raised some eyebrows with his picks for the three greatest recipients of the award in football history.

It looks likely that there will be a new winner this year, with Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal, and Kylian Mbappe occupying the top three spots in the current power rankings.

However, among those hoping to get their hands on the award again are Rodri, who won the Player of the Tournament at the World Cup, current holder Ousmane Dembele, and eight-time winner Lionel Messi.

Messi, the most successful player in Ballon d'Or history, has also been taking part in a vote to determine the greatest winner of all time. Having won the award a record eight times and been nominated an incredible 17 times throughout his career, he is naturally one of the favourites to come out on top. However, Morgan has thrown a spanner in the works by leaving him out of his top three.

Piers Morgan Names His 3 Best Ballon d'Or Winners

Piers already has a reputation as an outspoken British journalist. But in the football world, he leans into that tag even more with his well-documented fanboyism of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Given the opportunity, he will defend the former Manchester United and Real Madrid superstar, as proven by the fact that he was one of the few who felt CR7 was right to storm out of a Portugal training session and cry foul after being benched by Jorge Jesus.

It's no surprise, then, that he has picked the 41-year-old as the greatest Ballon d'Or winner of all time. There's no denying Ronaldo's status as one of the greatest footballers ever, but Morgan's next two picks ahead of Messi are bound to raise a few eyebrows.

Ronaldo Nazario was ranked second, with Johan Cruyff completing the top three in third place. While the former won two Ballons d'Or and the latter claimed three, their combined tally of five still falls three short of the eight collected by CR7's Argentine rival, Messi.

What Does Piers Really Think of Lionel Messi?

When questioned about his ignorance of Messi's brilliance, Piers usually uses the argument that the Inter Miami star hasn't proven himself in multiple countries and continents in the same way Ronaldo has.

He also claims Messi isn't even the greatest player in Argentina's football history, naming Diego Maradona above him. "But look, the beauty of football, it is all subjective. If other people prefer Messi, good luck to you," Morgan said during an interview with Sky Sports, as cited by Marca.

"But the advantage Ronaldo has is statistics. Nobody has won the league in more countries than him, nobody has scored more goals than he has, and no one has scored more international goals than he has."

Morgan, who has interviewed Ronaldo several times and considers himself to be a friend, believes those achievements will remain the strongest evidence supporting his position in soccer's enduring debate. "Those records will stand the test of time and that is why, for me, he is number one," he concluded.