Lewandowski beaten: Messi wins seventh Ballon d’Or and extends record

Yes, yes, not completely undeserved, but I can still remember a time when the Ballon d’Or was more of a “challenge cup”, in the sense that the stars of world football were given this title in turn in order to appreciate them accordingly and to give them this stage internationally. Zinedine Zidane was e.g. B. also world class for several years and during this time maybe also the very best, but he has only received this award once.
The first exception was the Brazilian Ronaldo in 2002 with his second, but also well-deserved title after 1997.

Since 2010, FIFA has had its finger in the game when it comes to awarding the award, and for over 10 years the whole thing has been viewed as a marketing event to represent the football brand using the figureheads that are best received by young fans around the world.
A one-time award became a subscription for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo practically from 2008, with the exception of Luka Modric in 2018 (no idea how that could suddenly happen, but he also played a great World Cup).
In essence, it’s kind of like the “Player of the Tournament” title that Messi got after the 2014 World Cup, even though he wasn’t even the best player on his own team.

So again congratulations to Lionel Messi for all of me. I hope you still have space in the storage room for your seventh Ballon d’Or.