Lionel Messi wins record seventh men’s Ballon d’Or
Lionel Messi has won the men’s Ballon d’Or for a record seventh time.
Messi, who left Barcelona as a free agent to sign for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, was presented with the award for best men’s footballer in the world on Monday night in Paris after another record-breaking 12 months for club and country.
In July, the 34-year-old ended his long wait for a major international trophy by winning the Copa America with Argentina as they beat hosts Brazil in the final.
Messi shared the Player of the Tournament prize with club-mate Neymar and took home the Golden Boot after registering four goals and five assists.
Three months prior, Messi scored twice in the Copa del Rey final to win his 34th – and final – trophy with Barcelona as they beat Athletic Bilbao 4-0.
The PSG forward was the previous winner of the award in 2019 as last year’s edition was cancelled because of Covid. Messi also won the Ballon d’Or in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, who was the favourite to win the 2020 edition of the Ballon d’Or, came second in the vote.
Lewandowski has scored 73 goals in just 60 games for Bayern Munich since the start of last season, and won FIFA’s and UEFA’s men’s player of the year awards in 2020.
Lewandowski, who scored 53 goals in all competitions in 2021 for Bayern, was awarded the ‘Striker of the Year’ prize, a new award that was only announced hours before the ceremony began.
Paris St-Germain’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, who helped Italy win Euro 2020, won the Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper, while Champions League winners Chelsea were named Club of the Year.
Barcelona midfielder Pedri, 19, won the Kopa Trophy for the best player aged under 21, with England internationals Jude Bellingham, Mason Greenwood and Bukayo Saka coming second, fifth and sixth respectively.
Ballon d’Or results
- Lionel Messi (Paris St-Germain/Argentina, forward)
- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland, forward)
- Jorginho (Chelsea/Italy, midfielder)
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/France, forward)
- N’Golo Kante (Chelsea/France, midfielder)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United/Portugal, forward)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt, forward)
- Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City/Belgium, midfielder)
- Kylian Mbappe (Paris St-Germain/France, forward)
- Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris St-Germain/Italy, goalkeeper)
- Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund/Norway, forward)
- Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea/Belgium, forward)
- Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus/Italy, defender)
- Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy, defender)
- Raheem Sterling (Manchester City/England, forward)
- Neymar (Paris St-Germain/Brazil, forward)
- Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid/Uruguay, forward)
- Simon Kjaer (AC Milan/Denmark, defender)
- Mason Mount (Chelsea/England, midfielder)
- Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City/Algeria, forward)
- Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United/Portugal, midfielder), tied with Lautauro Martinez (Inter Milan/Argentina, forward)
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- Harry Kane (Tottenham/England, forward)
- Pedri (Barcelona/Spain, midfielder)
- Phil Foden (Manchester City/England, forward)
- Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan/Italy, midfielder), tied with Ruben Dias (Manchester City/Portugal, defender) and Gerard Moreno (Villarreal/Spain, forward)
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- Luka Modric (Real Madrid/Croatia, midfielder), tied with Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea/Spain, defender)
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