Lionel Messi has won his seventh career Ballon d’Or, extending his record of winning the coveted trophy one more time. Robert Lewandowski finished as the runner up in the rankings, with Jorginho finishing in third place.
Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante were 4th and 5th, and Cristiano Ronaldo ranked 6th. Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, Kylian Mbappe and Gianluigi Donnarumma made up the rest of the rankings.
The Argentinian forward won the Copa del Rey with Barcelona at the end of the season, and also lifted the Pichichi Trophy. The summer proved to be the key difference maker in Messi’s season, as he won his first international trophy with Argentina in the Copa America.
The Albiceleste defeated their rivals Brazil, and Messi captained the team to their first title in years. Messi would then make a shocking transfer to PSG, and has slowly started to pick up the pace in the team. In their most recent game, the 34-year-old provided a hat-trick of assists, as the Parisians picked up the win against St Etienne.
The 2021 award proved to be a very difficult choice for all the fans, since Robert Lewandowski had such a remarkable season as well. Messi acknowledged that the Bayern Munich striker deserved the award last year for his unrivalled domination in all competitions. But last year, the Ballon d’Or award was cancelled due to the pandemic. He was awarded the newly introduced best striker award instead.
So, in essence, Messi has retained the award since he was the last player to be awarded the prestigious trophy before the pandemic.
