I was looking at the voting differences between the coaches and players (FIFA World Player of the Year, pre-2010) and the media (Ballon d’Or, pre-2010). Coaches and players tend to vote for the player they consider the absolute best, while the media places greater emphasis on team achievements before recognising the outstanding individual player.
If you rewind to the year 2001, when Michael Owen secured his Ballon d’Or. He only managed 8th place in the FIFA World Player of the Year. Based on my calculations, if all three voting categories were combined, it would have been David Beckham walking away with the Ballon d’Or award for that year.
Also, Ribery and Sneijder would have had a Ballon d’Or to their name if only the media could vote. 