Ballon d’Or 2021 LIVE as Lionel Messi beats Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho for award
2021 Ballon d’Or ceremony took place on Monday with Lionel Messi beating Robert Lewandowski to the men’s award as Alexia Putellas collecting the women’s prize
Lionel Messi has won the men’s 2021 Ballon d’Or, and a record seventh trophy, at an awards ceremony in Paris on Monday evening.
Messi, 34, held off the challenge of Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema and Chelsea’s Jorginho to collect the prize and move two clear in his long-running battle with five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo, who was among the 30 players shortlisted but did not feature in the top three for the first time in 11 years.
Messi was the favourite to collect the award after winning the Copa America with Argentina earlier this year – his first major international trophy – despite one of his less impressive periods at club level: Barcelona finished third in La Liga and fell in the first knockout round of the Champions League. However, Messi scored two goals as Barca won the Copa del Rey final and he was La Liga’s top goalscorer once more, before switching to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
Lewandowski did pick up the consolation prize of the newly formed Striker of the Year award, while the Women’s Ballon d’Or went to Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas.
Further awards went to Gianluigi Donnarumma for the Yashin Trophy of best goalkeeper, to Barcelona midfielder Pedri as the starlet was handed the Kopa Trophy and another new award went to Chelsea for Club of the Year for their on-pitch achievements with both men’s and women’s teams. You can follow all the latest updates and reaction below. Keep up with all the latest breaking news by signing up to our free email alerts by clicking here.
Ballon d’Or 2021: Full rankings announced so far
Full list of shortlisted players announced so far:
T29 - Luka Modric, Cesar Azpilicueta
T26 - Gerard Moreno, Nicolo Barella, Ruben Dias
25 - Phil Foden
24 - Pedri
23 - Harry Kane
T21 - Lautaro Martinez, Bruno Fernandes
20 - Riyad Mahrez
19 - Mason Mount
18 - Simon Kjaer
17 - Luis Suarez
16 - Neymar
15 - Raheem Sterling
14 - Leonardo Bonucci
13 - Giorgio Chiellini
12 - Romelu Lukaku
11 - Erling Haaland
Ballon d’Or 2021: Haaland’s highlights and scoring stats
Is this the man you’d like your team to sign as a new No9 in the summer? He’ll cost an absolute fortune in both transfer fee and salary according to reports, so it’s no wonder Dortmund are fairly calm in terms of their ability to keep him...or cash in!
He’s 11th in the world for Ballon d’Or voting and, considering Norway are far from an international superpower, BVB didn’t win the league and were nowhere near the running to win in Europe, that is a seriously impressive accolade.
Ballon d’Or 2021: Countdown to the ceremony
Lionel Messi is the odds-on favourite to win the Ballon d’Or in a ceremony in Paris and the PSG star will hope to collect a record seventh prize when he makes the short trip to the Chatelet Theatre this evening.
The Ballon d’Or returns after an absence – last year’s award was cancelled due a football calendar disrupted by the pandemic, a controversial decision which saw Robert Lewandowski almost certainly denied his first golden ball.
Bayern Munich’s Polish striker is among the frontrunners once again, but Messi’s achievement finally winning the Copa America earlier this year has put him top of the pile in this year’s odds. If Messi does win, it would be his seventh Ballon d’Or award, a record tally which would see him move two clear of his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ballon d’Or 2021: Ceremony starting soon!
Plenty of eager eyes keeping an eye out for their heroes. Hope they’ve got a good way of watching once the action starts unfolding inside the building.
Ballon d’Or 2021: Haaland in 11th ahead of top 10 reveal
Another monster striker now and it’s Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland, voted in 11th after a spectacular season of scoring goals.
He’s just back from injury this weekend and...yes, found the back of the net.
Ballon d’Or 2021: Lukaku voted into 12th
A big season for Romelu Lukaku last year as he scored dozens for Inter, helped them win the Serie A title, had a big tournament with Belgium and got his massive-money move back to Chelsea.
All that adds up to 12th-best in the world for a phenomenal calendar year of action.
Ballon d’Or 2021: Chiellini right beside Bonucci
And as should always be the case, right alongside Bonucci is his partner in crime, Giorgio Chiellini. The Juve and Italy man comes 13th, presumably gaining those extra votes as a result of actually lifting the trophy in summer. Beautiful.
Ballon d’Or 2021: Bonucci in 14th
Italy centre-back Leonardo Bonucci is ranked at 14th, another of the national team’s Euro 2020 winners from summer.
He’s another who has had a hit-and-miss season this time around with Juventus at club level, but certainly played a big part with the Azzurri for their triumph.
Ballon d’Or 2021: Two hours to the ceremony
Counting down...and who will be left in the running when we start the ceremony? I think we can guess a few of the names...
Ballon d’Or 2021: Sterling ranked top 15 in the world
Raheem Sterling is next out to kick off the top half of the reveal. The Man City forward is 15th after, like Foden, winning the league title and reaching the final of both the Champions League and Euro 2020. He played a massive role for England in going the distance in the summer.
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