Messi leads the real Grand Slam winner in football, only nine people in history have achieved it, and Ronaldo has no chance
Just now, the British media talksport took stock of a very interesting list. The media believes that players who can win awards in the three most crucial areas of club, national team and individual at the same time can be called a grand slam in the true sense. And looking at the entire history of football, there are only nine people who have achieved this great feat so far.
Objectively speaking, the most valuable champion at the club level must be the Champions League. There is no doubt that the best teams in each league will collide together, and the winner will be the most golden. Similarly, the most prestigious award at the national team level is, of course, the World Cup. This is what many professional footballers want to pursue in their national team careers throughout their lives. As for individual awards, then the Golden Globe is undoubtedly the most valuable individual honor. The players who can win the Ballon d'Or are basically the best of their respective eras, and the players who can win all three awards at the same time are the superstars of the superstars.
The first player to achieve this feat was England legend Bobby Charlton, who led the team to World Cup glory in 1966. It was also England's only World Cup title, and he won the Ballon d'Or for his outstanding performances that year. Then he won the Champions League with Manchester United in 1968, so it took Bobby Charlton three years to collect all the important honors of the club, the national team, and the individual level, which can be said to be very difficult. The second to do so was German legend Gerd Müller, who won the Ballon d'Or in 1970.
This was followed by a World Cup in 1974, during which time he and Bayern Munich won the Champions League three times in a row. The same reigned for an era. It is worth mentioning that his teammate Beckenbauer also completed this achievement during the same time period. The latter won the Ballon d'Or twice in 1972 and 1974, a feat that was achieved by the two men at a similar time. Italian legend Paulo Rossi then began to make history, winning both the World Cup and the Ballon d'Or in 1982. In 1985 he went on to reach the top of Europe with Juventus, where he also completed the Grand Slam.
The fifth to do so was midfield maestro Zinedine Zinedine Zidane, who won the World Cup with France in 1998. With his outstanding performance in the final, he won the Golden Globe Award that year. He also won the Champions League in 2002 after joining Real Madrid, and the best goal of his career came in the final against Bayer Leverkusen that year. Since then, the members of the Brazilian team who have won the World Cup have begun to achieve this achievement. Rivaldo won the Ballon d'Or in '01, the World Cup in '02, and the Champions League with Milan in the following two years.
The football wizard Xiao Luo won the Ballon d'Or in two consecutive years in 05 and 06, and successfully won the Champions League in 06. So far, he has achieved that achievement. As for Kaka, although many fans criticized him for being a complete champion in the Brazilian team in '02. But it is undeniable that he achieved this achievement in '07. After winning the Champions League and Ballon d'Or, Kaka became the eighth player in history to win a Grand Slam of heavyweight honours. As for the most recent one, it is the Argentine champion Lionel Messi. Compared to other players, the World Cup was his last honor.
Because in the early days of his career, Messi won the Ballon d'Or and the Champions League early. Until 2022, when he led Argentina to win the World Cup in Qatar, Messi became the ninth player in football history to achieve a Grand Slam. Objectively speaking, it is not easy for players who can win the Champions League and the World Cup alone. A player who can achieve both is a superstar of great ability, and if he can win the Ballon d'Or on top of that, then it is a testament to the player's unrivalled ability. I wonder who will be the next 10th player to achieve this feat?