Ballon d or rankings

Conceived by sports writers Gabriel Hanot and Jacques Ferran, the Ballon d'Or award honors the male player deemed to have performed the best over the previous year, based on voting by football journalists, from to

In , Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or for a record eighth time! The year-old received the award off the back of an unforgettable year in which he finally won the World Cup with Argentina. Erling Haaland was his closest competitor but wasn't able to win the accolade for the first time in his career, after finishing second in the vote despite having won the treble with Manchester City last season. At the age of 36 and now playing in MLS with Inter Miami, it feels as though Messi is unlikely to add a ninth to his collection. What's more Cristiano Ronaldo has not won the award since , so he's unlikely to win it next year after a season with Al-Nassr — although you can't entirely rule out either legend just yet. For the first time in years, then, it truly feels as though the race is wide open for anyone to come in a claim the Ballon d'Or. In the past, the award was based on the performance of footballers across a calendar year.

Ballon d or rankings

Lionel Messi's record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or success came as a surprise to absolutely nobody in the footballing world. The legendary Argentine had led his country to the World Cup after all, where he arguably cemented his place as the greatest footballer to have ever played the game. Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe were his nearest challengers in , both enjoying exceptional years of their own. Haaland scored 54 goals in all competitions during the eligibility period, while Mbappe led France to back-to-back appearances in the World Cup final, sensationally scoring a hat-trick against Argentina albeit in an eventual losing effort to scoop the Golden Boot. All three are expected to be in contention once more in , despite Messi's move to Inter Miami at club level, but there's plenty of other players who may feel they are in with a chance of being crowned the best player in the world. Here's 90min's favourites for the award. With Messi considered the best player ever by many, it's inevitable that he'll pick up votes in because of his reputation alone. His performances are usually pretty damn good too though and, despite playing in MLS, Messi's lack of international retirement after winning the World Cup means that he will have another chance of international glory at the Copa America in the summer. If he plays to anywhere near the level he did at the World Cup, expect Argentina to win the tournament and for Messi to be, once again, one of the Ballon d'Or favourites. Barcelona coasted to La Liga success in Xavi's first full season in charge, and the Spaniard had the goals of Robert Lewandowski to thank for that success. Lewandowski is heading into the twilight of his career but he still remains one of Europe's most prolific goalscorers. Arsenal 's rise under Mikel Arteta has been impressive to say the least, with the club now firmly established as one of the Premier League's top sides. One of the star turns in north London has been Bukayo Saka, who has quickly matured into one of the finest wingers in the world. Also a key player for England, he could prove to be the difference as Arsenal look to end their year Premier League title drought.

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The race for the Golden Ball is on - so which of the game's biggest stars are true contenders, and who are merely pretenders? After a season headlined by him finally getting his hands on the World Cup, Lionel Messi took home his eighth Ballon d'Or after picking up the prize in Paris back in October. The footballing world moves on quickly though, and already predictions are being made as to the identity of the winner. It promises to be an intense race. Along with the usual ups and downs of the European domestic season, this is a campaign that will see the majority of the globe's best players take part in international tournaments, including the European Championship and Copa America this summer. So after a year that was defined by the battle between tournament success and season-long superiority, how much of a bearing on the Ballon d'Or race will those competitions have?

Conceived by sports writers Gabriel Hanot and Jacques Ferran, the Ballon d'Or award honors the male player deemed to have performed the best over the previous year, based on voting by football journalists, from to In , the Ballon d'Or was expanded to include all players of any origin that have been active at European clubs. After , coaches and captains of national teams were also given the right to vote. They changed the timing so that awards were given not for achievements during a calendar year, but for a football season. Stanley Matthews of England was the inaugural winner of the Ballon d'Or. Even after , it was usually identified with and referred to by that name because of its origin as a European award, until it was merged with FIFA's World Player award cementing its new worldwide claim. Lionel Messi has won the award a record eight times, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo with five.

Ballon d or rankings

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Kenny Dalglish. Main article: Yashin Trophy. Alejandro Balde. Bayern Munich [e]. Jamal Musiala. Franz Beckenbauer. Is there anything Kylian Mbappe can't do? Dinamo Zagreb. Sandro Mazzola. Archived from the original on 30 October The former Barcelona man has 11 goals and five assists in his first 14 Inter Miami outings. Andreas Brehme. Ruud Krol.

The Ballon d'Or rankings have been finalised, with Real Madrid's Karim Benzema scooping up the men's prize and Barcelona's Alexia Putellas winning the women's award. Benzema was the runaway Ballon d'Or favourite , after spearheading Real Madrid's successful Champions League campaign. Previous winners Cristiano Ronaldo placed 17th in the list, with winner Luka Modric coming in ninth, while record holder of the gong Lionel Messi did not even make the shortlist for the first time since

Sophia Smith. Archived from the original on 4 December He's scoring goals, is putting in player of the match performances, and is basically running the show for Atleti. The year-old received the award off the back of an unforgettable year in which he finally won the World Cup with Argentina. Retrieved 10 November Is there anything Kylian Mbappe can't do? Borussia Dortmund. He won the World Cup in , and then netted a hat-trick in the final as France fell just short at the final hurdle against Argentina last winter in Qatar. Paris Saint-Germain. Real Madrid [a]. Ruud Gullit.