BARRIO (TSN) – Make it eight Ballons d’Or for Lionel Messi.
The Argentina icon was received the honour on Monday at a ceremony in Paris.
It’s the second time in three years that the 36-year-old Messi has won the award and it comes on the heels of his first World Cup triumph last fall.
No other player has won the award more than five times. Messi is the only Argentinian to win the honour.
The Ballon d’Or has been handed out by France Football magazine since 1956. Briefly from 2010 to 2015, it was merged with FIFA’s Player of the Year Award.
Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham, who transferred from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, won the Kopa Trophy as the best young player in the world. Bayern Munich and Germany’s Jamal Musiala was second in the voting and Barcelona and Spain’s Pedri finished third.
The Socrates Award, handed out for contribution to humanitarian efforts, was given to Real Madrid and Brazil’s Vini Jr. in recognition of his work to combat racism and foundation aiding with underprivileged children in Brazil.
Argentina and Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez won the Yashin Trophy, given to the goalkeeper of the year. Among others on the shortlist were Manchester United and Cameroon’s Andre Onana, Fenerbahce and Croatia’s Dominik Livakovic and Ederson of Manchester City and Brazil.
City and Norway forward Erling Haaland was the recipient of the Gerd Muller Trophy given to the striker of the year after a 56-goal haul in his first season at the Etihad. Introduced in 2021, the award has only previously been won by Barca and Poland hitman Robert Lewandowski.
After their treble-winning season that saw them win the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup, City was named team of the year.
