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Claim: A Facebook user claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Super Ballon d’Or.
Verdict: False! Ronaldo has not won the Super Ballon d’Or. His 2008 season was voted the best Ballon d’Or-winning season in a recent paid fan vote called the B.O.A.T. (Ballon d’Or of All Time). The B.O.A.T.carries no trophy and does not add to his official Ballon d’Or tally.
Full Text
Cristiano Ronaldo has been crowned the inaugural winner of the Ballon d’Or B.O.A.T. (Ballon d’Or of All Time), an award introduced in 2026 to mark the 70th anniversary of the prestigious Ballon d’Or prize.
Against this backdrop, a Facebook user, Act of Ochuku, claimed that Ronaldo won the Super Ballon d’Or. In a 52-minute video, the user claimed that over 5,000 people voted for Ronaldo, comparing him to Lionel Messi despite his eight Ballon d’Or awards.
Other social media users shared similar claims here, here, and here.
One of the posts stated: “Cristiano Ronaldo has just won the Super Ballon d’Or. He won the best Ballon d’Or of all time.”
The posts appeared shortly after reports emerged on Oct. 28, 2026 after the outcome of the B.O.A.T. vote. However, the Ballon d’Or B.O.A.T.and the Super Ballon d’Or are two distinct awards; the user may have conflated them, so DUBAWA fact-checked the claim.
Fans voted Ronaldo’s 2008 season with Manchester United as the greatest Ballon d’Or-winning campaign of all time, beating Lionel Messi’s record-breaking 2012 Ballon d’Or season.
Verification
To verify the claim, DUBAWA searched for reports that Cristiano Ronaldo had won the Super Ballon d’Or. The search found no credible reports confirming the claim. Instead, the reports identified and described the B.O.A.T., a distinct award from the Super Ballon d’Or.
The B.O.A.T. was launched to mark the Ballon d’Or’s 70th anniversary. Fans were asked which Ballon d’Or-winning season was the greatest ever. The shortlist contained the 32 winning seasons of the ten players who had won the award at least twice.
The vote ran on the official Ballon d’Or website through October and closed at midnight Paris time on Oct. 27, 2026, and the result was reported on Oct. 28, 2026. Ronaldo’s 2007-08 season with Manchester United finished first, ahead of Lionel Messi’s 2012 season. It was a season-based vote and not a ranking of whole careers.
The vote was paid. Each ballot cost one euro, and fans could vote multiple times. It is a symbolic distinction with no physical trophy, and it does not add to Ronaldo’s official Ballon d’Or tally of five (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017).
The Ballon d’Or website published an explainer on why the B.O.A.T. is different from the Super Ballon d’Or. Real Madrid’s club website also reported that Ronaldo was named the best Ballon d’Or of all time. That report is in Spanish and describes the BOAT result, not the Super Ballon d’Or.
The Super Ballon d’Or is a separate, physical trophy that France Football awarded once, in 1989, to Alfredo Di Stéfano.
Here are the differences between the B.O.A.T. and the Super Ballon d’Or:
- The B.O.A.T. award is a fan-voted digital initiative launched by France Football and UEFA to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Ballon d’Or, not the historic Super Ballon d’Or (awarded only once, in 1989, to Alfredo Di Stéfano).
- The B.O.A.T. is neither a physical trophy nor an official, formal award.
- The Super Ballon d’Or is an official, physical, historic trophy awarded by France Football only once.
Conclusion
Cristiano Ronaldo has not won the Super Ballon d’Or. His 2008 season was voted the best Ballon d’Or-winning season in the B.O.A.T., a paid fan vote with no trophy that does not change his official tally. The claim mislabels the result as the Super Ballon d’Or, which was awarded once, in 1989. Therefore, the claim is false.