Cristiano Ronaldo And The Ballon d'Or Curse

With a mediocre performance in Brazil and his team heading home much earlier than expected, Cristiano Ronaldo has become the fourth victim of the curse that takes away the holder of the Ballon d'Or's magic in the ensuing World Cup.

Others that have suffered the same fate are Luis Figo in 2002, Ronaldinho Gaucho in 2006 and Lionel Messi in 2010. These three superstars all played out their World Cup without scoring a single goal.

Rubbing salt into Ronaldo's wound is the fact that the Real Madrid star has no choice but to look on as his two great rivals, Barça players Messi and Neymar, bathe in the limelight and soak up the press camera flashes.


The two players are so far the top scorers in Brazil 2014, with four goals apiece.

In total, Cristiano Ronaldo has played fourteen games in the final stages of the World Cup. In Germany the Portugal team came out third after 7 matches; in South Africa they fell at the group of 16 stage after 4 games and now in Brazil they have failed to get past the first group stage.

Despite scoring his third goal in the third World Cup he has played in so far in his career, Ronaldo has come away from Brazil empty handed. Worse he has lessened his chances of keeping his coveted Ballon d'Or, as the next winner will come from whoever makes a go of it in the World Cup.