.webp)
Lionel Messi on Monday won the men’s 2021 Ballon d’Or, and a record seventh trophy, at an awards ceremony in Paris. He's officially the best to do it ..
The 34-year-old Argentine forward 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.
"I'm really proud to win the France Football Ballon d'Or once again," Messi said. "It's incredible to win it for the seventh time. I would like to thank my family, my friends and all the people who follow me and always support me, because without them I couldn't have done it."
Messi previously won the award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2019.
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