While the Manchester United superstar trails on five gongs, the trio of Marco van Basten, Michel Platini and Johan Cruyff are still miles behind Messis record-breaking total on three titles each. Lionel Messi has won the Ballon dOr seven times, two more than his rival Cristiano Ronaldo. You know how both the AL and NL MVPs in Major League Baseball this year, Shohei Ohtani and Bryce Harper, didn't make the playoffs? Examining the credentials of the favourites, India vs West Indies: 'Shreyas Iyer should be given more opportunities,' claims Scott Styris, Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin Up 11% In 1 Month, But Loses Traction Today, Impact Of Fed Interest Rate, Cross-voting worries Opposition as Draupadi Murmu clocks emphatic win, Kiccha Sudeep Apologises To Media For Cancelling Vikrant Rona Press Meet Due To Health Issues, Meet Draupadi Murmu, Indias First Tribal And 15th President Of India, Here's How Much Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 Could Cost, BMW 5 Series 50 Jahre M Edition Launched In India At Rs 67.50 Lakh, National Cousins Day 2022: Interesting Facts About Cousins, IND vs ENG: 3rd ODI Krishnamachari Srikkanth's opinion on match, PV Sindhu wins Singapore Open 2022, defeats Chinas Wang Zhiyi, IND vs ENG: 1st ODI Krishnamachari Srikkanth's opinion on match, IND vs ENG: 2nd T20 , , IND vs ENG: 2nd T20 Krishnamachari Srikkanth's opinion on match. 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 and finished the La Liga season as top scorer with 30 goals.
How is Lewandowski (or anybody other than Ronaldo, whose numbers are comparable to Messi's) meant to catch up? After finishing second behind Ronaldo in the rankings in 2008, Messi picked up his first Ballon dOr one year later. Those who play for teams that win high-profile competitions. Messi won the award for a record sixth time, just beating Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk by a seven-point margin. Talent and sportsmanship?
The United States' representative on the jury, Soccer America editor Paul Kennedy, explained on Twitter that there are three guiding principles: 1. In one calendar year, Messi scored a total of 91 goals for club and country across all competitions, breaking the previous record of held by legendary German striker Gerd Mller. Italy and PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma won the Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper after a successful Euro 2020 campaign in the summer. But perhaps the most noticeable absentee from the Ballon dOr roll of honour is none other than Pele, who endures in the GOAT (greatest of all-time) conversation alongside Messi himself. The PSG forward was the previous winner of the award in 2019 as last year's edition was cancelled because of Covid. Ronaldo, Pogba and Harry Potter - Inside the world of USMNT and Juventus ace Weston McKennie. Jorginho, the Brazil-born Italy midfielder, was third in the balloting, reward for a season in which his club team, Chelsea, won the Champions League and Italy won the European Championship. Ronaldo did not attend Monday's event at the Theatre du Chatelet in the French capital but responded to Ferre, the editor of France Football - organisers of the Ballon d'Or, on social media. Out on the pitch, it was another productive season for Messi who ended as the top scorer in LaLiga with 34 goals to pick up his first Pichichi award. In a review into the Ballon dOr winners cited after Diego Maradonas death in late 2020, the French publication listed their hypothetical champions in a world where non-European players were eligible. Real Madrid vs Barcelona in Las Vegas: how to watch online and TV? Once again, Lionel Messi has been crowned the best player in world football over the last year. Two years ago I thought it was the last time. During an 11-year period, from 2009 to 2019, he amassed six Ballons dOr, finally managing to go one better than his old sparring partnerCristiano Ronaldo. - Keane vs Carragher on Ronaldo: The full transcript, Ronaldo hits out at France Football editor over Messi claims, 1) Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain & Barcelona), 2) Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich & Poland), 6) Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United & Portugal), 8) Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City & Belgium), 9) Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain & France), 10) Gianluigi Donarumma (Paris Saint-Germain & Italy), 11) Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund & Norway), 15 ) Raheem Sterling (Manchester City & England), 16) Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain & Brazil), 17) Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid & Uruguay), 20) Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City & Algeria), =21) Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United & Portugal), =21) Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan & Argentina), 25) Phil Foden (Manchester City & England), =26) Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan & Italy), =26) Ruben Dias (Manchester City & Portugal). But maybe that's the point of the Ballon d'Or.
If you take it like that, discussions over whether Lewandowski or Jorginho or Karim Benzema or Ronaldo deserved it more than Messi will be that much less stressful. All this is to say that in an alternative reality where any and every footballer had always been eligible to compete for the Ballon dOr that Messi would now be level with Pele at the very top of the tree. Messi, who wore a sparkly dinner jacket at the ceremony in Paris, collected the honour for a record sixth time in 2019 - one ahead of great rival Cristiano Ronaldo - before the awards were cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Putellas, the 27-year-old midfielder who is captain of Barcelonas all-conquering womens team, won the womens Ballon dOr. That feat also earned him his second Golden Shoe. Honestly its a bit emotional, and very special, Putellas said. Play for free, entries by 3pm.
"It is unacceptable that the person responsible for awarding such a prestigious prize could lie in this way, in absolute disrespect for someone who has always respected France Football and the Ballon d'Or.". Ok, yes, it is absolutely, definitely true, but there are some caveats that need to be applied when youre tallying up the players with the most Ballon dOr wins in history. Lionel Messi speaks after winning the men's Ballon D'Or for a record-extending seventh time. Messi received 41.6% of the votes as opposed to Cristianos 23.68%. 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. Activate your account. His rivals, after all, had triumphed with their countries as well as their clubs: Pel led Brazil to three World Cups, Diego Maradona inspired Argentina to one and Cristiano Ronaldo helped Portugal claim the European Championship in 2016. Her main rivals for the Ballon dOr were mostly familiar faces: Barcelona had become the first womens team to register five nominees in a single year, and two of Putellass teammates Jennifer Hermoso, who was second, and Lieke Martens, who was fifth finished in the top five in the voting. Yes, he had an Olympic gold medal already. Barcelona may have lost Messi this year, but it still took home some hardware on Monday: Alexia Putellas, a star midfielder on its treble-winning womens team, became the third winner of the womens Ballon dOr, and the teenager Pedri, a rising talent who is already a fixture for Barcelona and Spains national team, was honored as the worlds best player under 21. Goal of the year: Will Lamela's rabona, Schick's lob win FIFA's Puskas Award? Germany are eight-time Women's European champions - so why were they written off before England 2022? He then went on to win the 2014, 2016 and 2017 awards as his battle with Messi continued. The individual-performance bit makes sense and is pretty standard award fodder. Transfer Centre LIVE! The upshot is that certain players inevitably have advantages. To be able to comment you must be registered and logged in. Cristiano gained ground on Messi by winning the 2013 and 2014 editions but the Barca No.10 was back to pick up his fifth Ballon dOr in December 2015, the last time the award was held in conjunction with FIFA. Never mind the fact that Lewandowski happens to be Polish, which makes winning with your country that much more difficult. Get instant access, The first is simply the jury. 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. I can live with sportsmanship -- none of the top three are cartoon villains anyway -- but talent? Put the "team performance" part in there, though, and you're basically giving the edge to guys who play for very good national teams. Messi, who had arrived at the gala at Thtre du Chtelet in Paris in a shimmering tuxedo, a look matched by his three young sons, was typically soft-spoken in accepting his award. However, the partnership with FIFA ended in 2016, and the award reverted to the Ballon d'Or, while FIFA also reverted to its own separate annual award The Best FIFA Men's Player. And then there's the final criteria: the player's overall career. They were among his 15 goals scored from outside the penalty box in 2021. 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Now, it goes without saying that France Football havent literally inserted Pele into the official winners, so Messi will very much remain head and shoulders above the rest in the history books. Messi was brilliant in Brazil. His form for Barcelona during the first half of the year should not be forgotten. For some, there is a sense of fatigue at seeing him claim the Ballon d'Or for a seventh time. Johan Cruyff, arguably the finest European player in history, has three. Once again, Messi played a big part in the teams triumphs, ending the campaign with 38 goals, including a memorable header in the final against United. Twelve months later, Ronaldos dream became a reality as he was crowned for the first time, but it would be several years of near misses before he would claim his second award. Talent and sportsmanship of the player; (Note too that while it says "calendar year," in fact all votes had to be in by Oct. 24, so it's really just under 10 months. Prior to 1995, 10 leagues supplied Ballon d'Or winners, but since then only England, Germany, Italy, and Spain have supplied winners with La Liga's Real Madrid and Barcelona dominating the list. It's not meant to be scientific -- the criteria are silly and, probably, ignored. 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The other reason is the criteria. To Start receiving timely alerts please follow the below steps: Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox? Poland international Lewandowski, 33, who was widely expected to win last year, finished second after scoring 38 goals in 30 league games for Bayern in 2021.
The result? Here is a look at the previous winners of Ballon d'Or from 1956 to 2021: To start receiving timely alerts, as shown below click on the Green lock icon next to the address bar. 2022 Sports New Media Limited. Messi defeated Lewandowski in voting by 176 journalists and conducted by France Football, which awards the Ballon dOr (almost) every year. Conceived by sports writer Gabriel Hanot, Ballon d'Or has been awarded since 1956, although between 2010 and 2015, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year and was known as the FIFA Ballon d'Or. Ronaldo, the great Brazilian striker, won two. Against Ecuador in the quarter-final, he cleverly set up each of the first two goals before scoring the third himself. George Best, Zinedine Zidane and Esebio all have just a single award to their names. On his Instagram account, Ronaldo angrily took issue with a comment made recently by France Footballs editor in chief, Pascal Ferr, in an interview with The New York Times about the awards prestige. When your dad wins an other Ballon d'Or #ballondor pic.twitter.com/UWKir71mX5, Its incredible to be here again, Messi said. It is the seventh time the Argentina hero has been given the accolade in his career. Real Madrid and France striker Karim Benzema was fourth, and Jorginhos Chelsea midfield partner, NGolo Kant, was fifth. And since Messi and Jorginho also won with their national teams, that's supposed to be a mark in their favor. Besides, weve got to remember that the trophy was only available to European players until 1995 and even then it wasnt until 2007 that players from clubs outside of Europe were able to compete. Many experts argued Lewandowski deserved the honor in 2020, when it was not handed out because, organizers said, disruptions to the soccer calendar had made it impossible to judge. "I'm really proud to win the France Football Ballon d'Or once again," said Messi. However, what if we were to tell you that we do know how many Ballon dOr titles that Pele has won and that France Football, the organisers of the award, have calculated the total themselves? After Monday night, Lionel Messi has seven. Lionel Messi wins record seventh men's Ballon d'Or, Lionel Messi says winning the men's Ballon d'Or for a record seventh time has helped him during a 'new stage' in his life. Cristiano Ronaldo is behind him in second, having won it five times. Some are comparable to MVP or Heisman voters: folks who cover the nitty-gritty of the sport daily and attend plenty of games. 
Meanwhile, Jorginho finished third after a standout year in which he helped Italy to glory at the delayed Euro 2020 after lifting the Champions League trophy with Chelsea in May. In an effort to make this as inclusive and comprehensive an award as possible, France Football (the magazine that awards the Ballon d'Or) sends out ballots to 180 journalists from 180 different countries. But it was the Premier League goalkeepers that dominated the category with four inclusions in the top 10. Ballon dOr 2021: Date, UK Time, Nominees, Winner And Everything You Need To Know. The Paris St.-Germain star capped a year in which he led Argentina to the Copa Amrica title by edging Bayern Munichs Robert Lewandowski. Count the Ballon d'Or as one of those grand old institutions that's insanely popular. "Pascal Ferre lied, he used my name to promote himself and to promote the publication he works for," Portugal international Ronaldo posted on Instagram. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the newsletter email. While Messi has won the Ballon d'Or a record seven times, his counterpart and rival Ronaldo has won the prestigious award five times. After a year's hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Ballon d'Or makes it's return in 2021 with the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, predominant duo in recent years, winning the award winning 12 of the last 13 awards. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. There's history: The Ballon d'Or dates back to 1956, which means it predates the European Championships, yellow and red cards, substitutions, color TV, remote controls and of course, FIFA (the video game). His tally of seven Ballons dOr now puts him two clear of Ronaldo, his great rival: The Portuguese forward remains on five, but he has not won the prize since 2017, and at age 36 he is more than two years older than Messi.
Ronaldo criticises France Football over Messi Ballon d'Or claims. But in a world where we wanted to be absolute perfectionists about Messi being the greatest player of all time, dare we posit the suggestion that he needs an eighth Ballon dOr title to wrap things up?