Lionel Messi has been awarded the prestigious Ballon d’Or for the eighth time in his career. The captain of the Argentine selection, which won the World Cup title in Qatar last December, came ahead of the Norwegian Erling Haaland from Champions League winners Manchester City and the Frenchman Kylian Mbappé in the election in Paris carried out by the trade magazine France Football through. Ilkay Gündogan ended up in 14th place as the best German professional, Jamal Musiala came in 26th place. Karim Benzema won the prize last year.
Follows compatriot Alexia Putellas: Aitana Bonmati, world champion and now winner of the Ballon d’Or.
(Photo: Michel Euler/dpa)
In the women’s category, Spanish world champion Aitana Bonmati (FC Barcelona) was crowned winner at the Theater du Chatelet, following her compatriot Alexia Putellas. The 25-year-old won the World Cup title with the Spaniards in Australia and the Champions League with FC Barcelona. Alexandra Popp, the captain of the German national team, came seventh.
The best young player (under 21 years of age) was the former Dortmund Jew Bellingham. In the goalkeeper category, the award went to world champion Emiliano Martinez from Argentina. The Ballon d’Or has been awarded annually since 1956 by the specialist magazine France Football. The winner was initially considered “Europe’s Footballer of the Year”, but since 2007 the world’s best kicker has been chosen in competition with the world football association Fifa (since 1991). From 2010 to 2015, the newspaper and the world association cooperated on the world footballer’s freestyle, and since 2016 two different prizes have been awarded.