Argentina star Lionel Messi has won his record seventh Ballon d’Or in a ceremony held at Theatre du Chatelet in the French capital of Paris. The prestigious prize came for the star after he guided his team to their first Copa America title in 28 years. Robert Lewandowski finished runners-up while Jorginho finished third to make the podium. Lewandowski though didn't return empty handed as he won the inaugural striker of the year award.
The ceremony was not held last year as Covid-19 hit season was curtailed on multiple fronts and therefore canceled by the organizers. The likes of Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema were considered favorites to win the honour, but were ultimately pipped to the prize by the Paris Saint-Germain(PSG) forward.
Lewandowski is considered unlucky not to have won the award as he guided Bayern Munich to a treble in 2020 but missed out. On the other hand, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah was also amongst the favorites as the Merseyside’s won their first league title in three decades. Karim Benzema also had a stellar year this time around as he was the top scorer for Real Madrid and guided France to Nations League glory.
Jorginho was also unfortunate not to have won the award as the Italian was instrumental in guiding Italy to their first Euro title since 1968. His teammates at the club and international level, N'Golo Kanté and Gianluigi Donnarumma were nominated as well. Jorginho also won the Champions League (CL) with Chelsea defeating Manchester City in the final.
Messi’s win now takes him two clear of Cristiano Ronaldo who has five Ballon d’Ors to his name. It was also an emotional year for Messi as he ended his long-term association with Barcelona to join PSG. His clubmates Kylian Mbappe and Neymar were also nominated for the prize.
Alongside Messi, Barcelona's Alexia Putellas who won the treble of league, cup and Champions League won the women's Ballon d'Or. Gianluigi Donnarumma won the Lev Yashin award for the best goalkeeper while the Kopa Trophy for the best young player was awarded to Pedri.
