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The biggest mistake France Football have ever made.

The most scandalous Ballon d’Or snub in history: Not Beckham, or Henry, or Vini Jr…

Nestor Watach •
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Imagine, in the year 2025, one player playing a vital, starring role in a historic European treble.

His club’s best, most reliable goalscorer. Their top scorer with 22 goals in the league and 30 in all competitions.

Most importantly, clutch goals on all three fronts for a major European giant as they won all three major trophies for the first and only time in their history.

The neck-and-neck league campaign went down until the final weekend. Their striker scored in three of the final four vital wins, including the match-winner away from home on the final weekend.

That came shortly after he scored the only goal of the game in the domestic cup final, against the team that was chomping at their heels in the title race.

The striker’s sensational campaign was capped off with a crowning glory; both goals in a perfectly executed 2-0 victory in the Champions League final.

Imagine that player not even receiving a nomination for the Ballon d’Or.

Well, it happened. The club was Jose Mourinho’s unforgettable Inter. The player was Diego Milito. And 15 years later we still can’t understand how that happened.

Take a look at 2025’s frontrunner. Few can argue that Ousmane Dembele isn’t worthy of this year’s Ballon d’Or.

The French forward was PSG’s top scorer as they claimed the Champions League, and the treble, for the first time in their history.

He might not have been the Parisiens’ best player – like Inter they boasted a sensationally well-balanced team full of strong candidates – but he was certainly the most decisive. Time and again he came up with vital goals or assists in the biggest games.

It wouldn’t be a scandal if Dembele doesn’t win this year’s award. Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Mohamed Salah all enjoyed wonderful campaigns and would be worthy winners. But imagine if he didn’t make it onto the 30-man shortlist.

“Since Diego Milito wasn’t among the finalists in 2010, for me, the Ballon d’Or lost credibility,” said Milito’s Inter team-mate and Argentinian compatriot Esteban Cambiasso.

“A guy who defines the Champions League with two goals, wins the treble, and scores in every final, at least deserved to be among the finalists.”

Four of Inter’s treble-winners made the Ballon d’Or shortlist in 2010, compared with nine of PSG’s squad in 2025.

Wesley Sneijder ended up fourth in the voting, after the all-Barcelona podium of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.

“I don’t like to say robbed, who won it that year, Lionel Messi?” Mourinho responded years later, if he felt Sneijder was robbed of a rightful Ballon d’Or.

“So not robbed.”

Samuel Eto’o (12th), Maicon (17th) and Julio Cesar (19th) rounded out Inter’s nominees.

“It’s strange, really strange,” Mourinho’s successor Rafael Benitez responded when the shortlist was revealed.

“He even won the trophy as the best player in the Champions League. We’re all surprised.”

Eto’o, Maicon and Cesar all played their roles in Inter’s treble, but it’s difficult to understand how any of them got the nod over Milito.

You get the sense that Eto’o’s nomination was more for name recognition and his brilliant career than anything he did in that particular year.

Incredibly he won a second successive treble, having gone from Guardiola’s Barcelona to Mourinho’s Inter, but he played far more of a starring role in the former.

“It’s difficult to understand how Samuel Eto’o never won the Ballon d’Or with the impressive career he had,” Mourinho recalled in an interview on Cameroon Radio.

“Samuel played for the best teams in the best leagues in the world. He scored an incredible amount of goals and was successful in different leagues.

“He played three Champions League finals, winning two with Barcelona and scoring in both finals. He also won one Champions League at Inter Milan and won many league titles.

“He was the best striker in the world for several years and I think he deserved a Ballon d’Or but these are things out of our control.”

But there were other years in which he was far more worthy. In 2009-10, he only scored 12 goals in Serie A, two in the Champions League, and was very much outshone by his strike partner’s big-game heroics.


It’s not a disgrace that Milito didn’t win the award in 2010.

As Mourinho says, when Messi was on the ascendancy, it’s hard to argue he wasn’t the best player in world football.

It was a World Cup year, and Xavi and Iniesta were worthy of places on the podium after Spain’s win in South Africa.

But for Milito not to even make the 23-man shortlist? After all he did that year?

People argue that Beckham was robbed in 1999, Thierry Henry was robbed in 2003 and Vinicius Junior was robbed last year.

There are valid arguments to be made for all of those, but at least they ended as runners-up. Their excellence ultimately acknowledged, if not with the award itself.

We can’t think of a more scandalous snub in Ballon d’Or history than treble hero Milito not even receiving a nomination.

READ NEXT: Ranking all 30 Ballon d’Or nominees by their average match rating in 2024-25: Yamal 2nd, Salah 8th…

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