Ballon d’Or 2021: Lionel Messi takes home a record-breaking seventh prize

Argentina’s superstar has been awarded the best player on the planet for the second time with 613 points, whereas, Robert Lewandowski with 580 points coming in second. Ronaldo, who has won the award five times and assured that he or Messi have won 12 of the previous 13, finished sixth, his lowest finish since 2010.

Argentina’s mercurial sensation Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or for the seventh time, completing an extraordinary career that has seen him win the honour seven times.

Since 1956, when Stanley Matthews won the Ballon d’Or, the award has been given to men every year by France Football magazine. The most recent of those prestigious prizes were given on Monday at a glitzy ceremony in Paris, with the PSG superstar not having to go far following his summer departure from La Liga giants Barcelona.

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After being named the best player on the planet for 2021, Messi is now two victories ahead of long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who is now at Manchester United, where he has finished outside the top three for the first time since 2010.

What was the reason behind Messi’s Ballon d’Or victory?

After another amazing year with club and country, Messi topped the leaderboard.

He helped Barcelona win the Copa del Rey in April, then went on to win his first senior trophy with Argentina in the Copa América in 2021, where he was also voted Player of the Tournament.

Shortly after that triumph, the football world was horrified to learn that Barcelona couldn’t afford to sign a talismanic figure to a new contract, and Messi’s long affiliation with the Catalan giants came to an end when he moved to France.

He’s finding the going a little tougher at PSG, although he had three assists in his most recent match against Saint-Étienne and has four goals in 11 outings.

The stars who missed out

While Messi surged to the top of the Ballon d’Or poll for the second year in a row, there were several other strong contenders for the most prestigious individual award.

Robert Lewandowski, at 33 years old, has continued his prolific form for Bayern Munich, scoring 25 goals in 20 appearances this season, although he had to settle for second place. The Polish striker had been tipped to win the Golden Ball in 2020, but France Football decided not to do so last year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Jorginho, the Chelsea midfielder who won the Champions League with his club and Euro 2020 with Italy, was widely expected to fight for first place, but he ended up with a bronze medal.

Despite an amazing run of form for Real Madrid and a return to France, Karim Benzema was unable to build a strong enough claim to force his way into contention.

His countryman Kylian Mbappé, along with fellow frontman Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund, would think that Ballon d’Or glory awaits them at some point, but they are still in the future rather than the present.

All the winners from the 2021 Ballon d’Or awards event are listed below:

Pedri of Barcelona wins the Kopa Trophy for the best player, U-21.

Robert Lewandoski wins the award for Best Striker of the Year.

Alexia Putellas of Barcelona is the 2021 winner of the Women’s Ballon d’Or.

Gianluigi Donnarumma of PSG wins the Yachine Trophy in 2021.

Lionel Messi of PSG is the 2021 winner of the Ballon d’Or for men.

Chelsea wins the Club of the Year title.

 

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