Superstar Lionel Messi is the first person to win the Golden Ball in three decades, starting in 2009 and most recently on the evening of November 29.
A year later, Messi continued to win the 2010 Ballon d’Or, surpassing two Barca teammates, Iniesta and Xavi, in the poll. Meanwhile, rival C. Ronaldo only finished sixth, behind Wesley Sneijder and Diego Forland.
In the 2009-2010 season, Barca continued to dominate La Liga and Messi scored 34 goals in 35 matches of the season, continuing to be the brightest star in the attack. The Catalan team also won the Spanish Super Cup the same year. Photo: AFP
In 2011, Messi completed his Ballon d’Or hat-trick after Barca won five Cups, including the La Liga and Champions League titles. This season, Messi has 53 goals in 55 games in all competitions. C. Ronaldo finished second in the poll, ahead of Xavi. At the award ceremony, the Argentine striker caught the eye with a wine red jacket. Photo: EPA
Messi’s fifth Golden Ball won in 2015, after 2013 and 2014 both ranked second behind C. Ronaldo. The Argentine striker continued to have an impressive season with Barca, with the team winning La Liga, Champions League and King’s Cup. He scored 43 goals in 38 games all season. C. Ronaldo and Neymar ranked second and third respectively in 2015. Photo: AFP
C. Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or in 2016 and 2017 to share these five titles with Messi. In 2018, Luka Modric was the winner. In 2019, Messi surpassed C. Ronaldo, winning the Golden Ball for the sixth time. C. Ronaldo is only third this year, behind Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk. In the 2018-2019 season, Messi scored 51 goals in 50 matches, continuing to help Barca win La Liga. Photo: AFP
During the awards ceremony in Paris on the evening of November 29, Messi once again broke out when he won the seventh Ballon d’Or. C. Ronaldo ranked sixth in this year’s poll. Messi became the first player to win the Ballon d’Or in three decades. Although Barca did not win La Liga, Messi still played impressively, was the top scorer of the Spanish championship and with the team won the King’s Cup. England and Argentina also won the Copa America last summer. Messi has just moved to PSG since August, with an unsatisfactory start.
In 2020, the Golden Ball award was canceled because of Covid-19. If awarded, this title is expected to belong to striker Robert Lewandowski – who is behind Messi at this year’s poll. Photo: AFP
On his personal page a few hours ago, Messi shared a photo holding the Ballon d’Or and wrote: ‘While I always put the collective achievement first, I can’t hide my joy at winning another Ballon d’Or. I would like to thank and dedicate to all my teammates and staff of the Argentina national team for the wonderful year we have won. I would also like to thank everyone at Barcelona and PSG. Of course, I want to thank my family, friends and supporters who are there for me every day. I could not have achieved this glory without them. Thank you France Football magazine for this Gala and this award. Hug everyone’. Photo: Instagram Lionel Messi
Superstar Lionel Messi was born in 1987, is the most prominent name in Argentine football. He joined the Spanish club Barca when he was 13 years old, trained in the famous La Masia training academy before being promoted to the first team in 2004. The striker who had to be injected with growth hormone from a young age shone brilliantly. in the Barca shirt until parting last summer. All personal and collective glory of Messi is in the colors of the Catalan team with 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League titles. Famed at Barca, but Messi was less charming in Argentina when he finished second in the 2014 World Cup. At Copa America, he and his teammates fell in the finals of 2007, 2015 and 2016 before being crowned in mid-July. With Messi , The seventh Golden Ball really made sense after he finally succeeded with the national team. Photo: The Sun
