Lionel Messi Win Ballon d'Or for the 6th time

Argentina and Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or 2019 as the 32-year-old winning it for the 6th time ahead Cristiano Ronaldo.

Virgil van Dijk was second – one of four Liverpool players in the top seven, including Sadio Mane in fourth.

Juventus and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the award five times, was third in the voting.

England defender Lucy Bronze was beaten to the women’s award, finishing second behind Megan Rapinoe, who was Golden Ball winner as the USA claimed a second successive World Cup in 2019.

Liverpool keeper Alisson won the inaugural Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper, ahead of Barcelona’s Germany international Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Brazilian compatriot Ederson of Manchester City.

Defender Matthijs de Ligt took the Kopa Trophy, awarded to the best under-21 player and selected by former Ballon d’Or winners.

The 20-year-old, who joined Juventus this summer after helping Ajax reach the semi-finals of last season’s Champions League, beat Borussia Dortmund and England forward Jadon Sancho to the award.

Messi’s win means the Ballon d’Or award has been won by a player from Spain’s La Liga in each of the last 11 years, including last year’s winner Luka Modric, who broke the 10-year Messi-Ronaldo monopoly on the prize.

The Argentine forward recently notched up 700 appearances for Barca, during which time he has scored a phenomenal 614 goals while winning 34 trophies, including 10 La Liga and four Champions League titles, and a host of other records and awards.

Messi’s major trophy haul
TrophyYears
La Liga (10)2004-05, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2014-15,2015-16, 2017-18, 2018-19
Copa del Rey (6)2008-09, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18
Champions League (4)2005-06, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2014-15
Ballon d’Or (6)2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019

His superb displays for Barcelona enabled him to hold off the challenge of Champions League winner Van Dijk, who was aiming to become the first defender to win the award since Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro in 2006.

“It was an amazing year, but there’s a couple of players like that who are a bit unnatural,” Van Dijk said of Messi and Ronaldo. “So you need to respect greatness as well.

“I was close, but there was just someone a little bit better.

“I’m very proud of what I achieved last year with Liverpool and Holland, and hopefully we can do that again this year. But that will be tough with those guys around here still.”

The full list

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)

2. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool and Netherlands)

3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus and Portugal)

4. Sadio Mane (Liverpool and Senegal)

5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt)

6. Kylian Mbappe (Paris St-Germain and France)

7. Alisson (Liverpool and Brazil)

8. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich and Poland)

9. Bernardo Silva (Manchester City and Portugal)

10. Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City and Algeria)

11. Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona and Netherlands)

12. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City and England)

13. Eden Hazard (Real Madrid and Belgium)

14. Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City and Belgium)

15. Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus and Netherlands)

16. Sergio Aguero (Manchester City and Argentina)

17. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool and Brazil)

18. Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona and France)

19. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool and England)

20= Dusan Tadic (Ajax and Serbia)

20= Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal and Gabon)

22. Son Heung-min (Tottenham and South Korea)

23. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham and France)

24= Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli and Senegal)

24= Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona and Germany)

28= Donny van de Beek (Ajax and Netherlands)

28= Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)

28= Marquinhos (Paris St-Germain and Brazil)

What is the Ballon d’Or?

The Ballon d’Or has been awarded by France Football every year since 1956, with England’s Stanley Matthews the first winner.

It was only for European players until 1995, when it expanded to become open for any player at a European club. From 2007 it opened up to the rest of the world.

The 30-man list of nominees is compiled by the editorial staff of the French magazine, with the winner voted for by journalists from around the world, with one representative per nation.

From 2010 to 2015 it merged with Fifa’s awards, but they split and the world governing body set up its own awards again in 2016.

Ballon d’Or: Ronaldo & Messi dominate since 2008
WinnerRunner-upThird place
2007KakaCristiano RonaldoLionel Messi
2008Cristiano RonaldoLionel MessiFernando Torres
2009Lionel MessiCristiano RonaldoXavi
2010Lionel MessiAndres IniestaXavi
2011Lionel MessiCristiano RonaldoXavi
2012Lionel MessiCristiano RonaldoAndres Iniesta
2013Cristiano RonaldoLionel MessiFranck Ribery
2014Cristiano RonaldoLionel MessiManuel Neuer
2015Lionel MessiCristiano RonaldoNeymar
2016Cristiano RonaldoLionel MessiAntoine Griezmann
2017Cristiano RonaldoLionel MessiNeymar
2018Luka ModricCristiano RonaldoAntoine Griezmann
2019Lionel MessiVirgil van DijkCristiano Ronaldo

 

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