Goal 50 past winners: Ronaldo, Messi & every best player of the year

Cristiano Ronaldo won the first Goal 50 award back in 2008, finishing ahead of Lionel Messi and Fernando Torres in the rankings.

The Portuguese sensation was a most worthy recipient of the accolade, after netting 42 goals during a remarkable campaign that ended with Manchester United winning both the Premier League and the Champions League.

After finishing as runner-up first time around, Messi claimed top spot in the 2009 Goal 50, with the inaugural winner, Ronaldo, failing to make the podium places.

Messi took the prize ahead of Barcelona team-mates Andres Iniesta and Xavi, after the trio had played pivotal roles in the Catalan club claiming a historic treble.

The Argentine finished as the Champions League's top scorer and netted Barcelona's second in the final with a rare headed goal.

The first man not named Messi or Ronaldo to lift the Goal 50 trophy, Wesley Sneijder was crowned the best player of 2010.

The Dutchman had joined Inter from Real Madrid the year before and proved a sensational signing for the Nerazzurri, scoring twice in the Champions League semi-final clashes with Barcelona and then providing the assist for Diego Milito's crucial opening goal in the 2-0 win over Bayern Munich in the final.

It was a third trophy of the season for Sneijder and Inter, after their earlier Serie A and Coppa Italia triumphs.

The attacking midfielder then very nearly got his hands on the World Cup but Netherlands were beaten 1-0 in the final by Spain.

Nonetheless, Sneijder had done more than enough to claim the Goal 50 award, with the Oranje ace finishing ahead of Messi and Xavi.

Messi returned to the summit in 2011, pipping Ronaldo to top spot, while Xavi finished in third place for the third year in a row.

The trophy was almost guaranteed to go to the Argentine after he scored 53 goals in 55 games for Barcelona, providing 24 assists on top of that as Pep Guardiola's incredible side won La Liga and the Champions League.

Messi's highlight came in the Champions League semi-final against Ronaldo's Real Madrid, when he dribbled past four Blancos defenders before putting the ball past Iker Casillas for one of the best goals of his career.

Ronaldo helped Real win their first Liga title in four years in 2012, with the high point coming in the Madrid derby as he scored a hat-trick against local rivals Atletico.

The prolific forward was phenomenal in La Liga, becoming the first player to score against every other team in the division in a single season, and finished top of the Goal 50, just ahead of team-mate Casillas, who pushed Messi down to third.

Messi became the first player to bag a hat-trick of Goal 50 trophies when he lifted the prize in 2013.

Franck Ribery finished as runner-up after winning the treble with Bayern Munich, while Ronaldo was third.

It was the year where Messi broke Gerd Muller's long-standing record of most goals scored in a single year, surpassing the German's tally of 85 to finish on 91.

Messi also became Barcelona's record goalscorer as they won another La Liga title.

Real Madrid won their 10th Champions League in 2014 and Ronaldo lifted his third Goal 50 trophy because of the key role he played in his club's triumph.

Arjen Robben's impressive performances, for both Bayern Munich and Netherlands, saw him finish second, with Messi in third after reaching the World Cup final with Argentina.

Ronaldo, though, scored 51 goals in 2013-14 to lift the Champions League and Copa del Rey, and also shared the European Golden Shoe with Luis Suarez.

Messi returned to top spot in 2015, winning his fourth Goal 50 award. Ronaldo finished as runner-up, while Luis Suarez completed the top three.

After recovering from injury, Messi looked as sharp as ever for Barcelona, becoming the all-time top scorer in La Liga while also forming a deadly partnership with Neymar and Suarez, with the trio scoring 122 goals in 2014-15 en route to another treble.

For the first time, Messi finished outside the top three in Goal 50, in 2016, as Ronaldo won his fourth trophy. Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann finished second and third, respectively.

In 2015-16, Ronaldo became both Real Madrid's record goalscorer and the top scorer in Champions League history.

Despite fitness problems, he still scored in the penalty shootout in the Champions League final to help Madrid continue their European dominance.

In 2017, Ronaldo became the first player to retain the Goal 50 award and overtake Messi as the player to win the trophy the most times. 

He scored 25 goals in 29 games to help Real Madrid lift the Liga trophy for the first time since 2012, while he also shone in the Champions League, with 12 goals, including two in the final against Goal 50 runner-up Gianluigi Buffon.

Madrid team-mate Luka Modric finished third in the standings.

In 2018, Modric became the fourth different winner of Goal 50 thanks to his splendid season with Real Madrid and Croatia.

The midfielder captained his country to the World Cup final, just a few weeks after he had helped his club claim their third Champions League trophy in a row.

Ronaldo was Madrid's top scorer once again and finished in second place in the Goal 50, while Mohamed Salah claimed third after a remarkable debut season at Liverpool.