Hugo Sánchez is considered one of the greatest Mexican footballers of all time, but he was never able to win the Ballon d'Or, mainly due to a regulatory issue. During the striker's peak years, France Football's award could only be won by European footballers, meaning the Mexican was excluded from contention despite spending practically his entire elite career in Spain. The restriction remained until 1995, when Liberia's George Weah became the first non-European player to win the award.

Sánchez's sporting achievements were enough to place him among the top goalscorers of his generation. In Spain's La Liga, he played 347 matches and scored 234 goals for Atlético de Madrid, Real Madrid, and Rayo Vallecano. With Atlético, he won the Copa del Rey in 1985 and secured his first Pichichi Trophy. Later, with Real Madrid, he experienced his most successful period: he played 282 official matches and scored 208 goals, winning five consecutive league titles, a UEFA Cup, a Copa del Rey, and three Spanish Super Cups, in addition to claiming four Pichichi awards and a Golden Boot.

One of the main arguments for considering Hugo Sánchez a potential Ballon d'Or candidate lies in the 1989-90 season, when he scored 38 league goals, equaling Telmo Zarra's then-record and winning the European Golden Shoe. During those years, however, the award was won by players such as Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, and Lothar Matthäus. Sánchez didn't lose the Ballon d'Or to them; he simply couldn't compete for the award due to the existing rules. His goal-scoring prowess, his titles, and his dominance in Spanish football explain why, under current rules, his name would have been among the strongest candidates of his era.