Barcelona superstar attacker Lionel Messi is the winner of the Ballon d’Or for 2019, this is his sixth-time he has won the award.
“Today is my sixth Ballon d’Or. It’s a completely different moment, lived with my family and my children,” said Messi at the award ceremony in Paris.
“As my wife said, you must never stop dreaming but always work to improve and continue to enjoy. I am very lucky, I am blessed.”
Luka Modric won the award last year.
The 32-year-old Messi had 51 goals in 50 games for Barcelona last season and five goals for Argentina this calendar year.
In September, he was named The Best FIFA Men’s Player beating his rival Cristiano Ronaldo to the title.
Ronaldo finished third in this year’s award.
Lionel Messi from @FCBarcelona is the 2019 Ballon d'Or winner! THAT'S HIS SIXTH ONE! #ballondor pic.twitter.com/dLndTZNeeW
— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@francefootball) December 2, 2019
1st – Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) – 686 points
2nd – Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) – 679
3rd – Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) – 476
4th – Sadio Mané (Liverpool) – 347
5th – Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – 176
6th – Kylian Mbappé (PSG) – 89
7th – Alisson (Liverpool) – 67
8th – Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) – 44
9th – Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) – 41
10th – Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City) – 33
Megan Rapinoe Wins Ballon d’Or as World’s Best Player
Megan Rapinoe, who helped the United States to a World Cup title by scoring six goals in July, trounced Lucy Bronze and Alex Morgan.
Rapinoe won the Golden Boot and Golden Ball at the 2019 Women’s World Cup. The 34-year old was also named the FIFA Women’s Player of the Year in 2019.
Here is the 2019 Women's Ballon d'Or Top 3 ⤵️
1. @mPinoe
2. @LucyBronze
3. @alexmorgan13#ballondor" pic.twitter.com/LO32VYH3qj
— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@francefootball) December 2, 2019
Women's Ballon d'Or final rankings:
1️⃣ Rapinoe
2️⃣ Bronze
3️⃣ Morgan
4️⃣ Hegerberg
5️⃣ Miedema
6️⃣ Renard
7️⃣ Kerr
8️⃣ Lavelle
9️⃣ White
1️⃣0️⃣ Marozsan
1️⃣1️⃣ Henry
1️⃣2️⃣ Van Veenendaal
1️⃣3️⃣ Heath
1️⃣4️⃣ Harder, Martens
1️⃣6️⃣ Asllani, Marta, Fischer
1️⃣9️⃣ Jakobsson
2️⃣0️⃣ Bouhaddi#BallondOr— Ameé Ruszkai (@ameeruszkai) December 2, 2019
The Ballon d’Or was instituted in 1956 to recognize Europe’s best player and the first winner was Stanley Matthews of Blackpool. In 1995 the net was cast wider to include any player representing a European club and in 2007 the eligibility was expanded worldwide.
