The Ballon d’Or has been awarded to the greatest football player in the world, and for the first time in a while, the winner went against public opinion and, seemingly, the betting markets, too. Lionel Messi pipped Virgil Van Dijk award for the world’s best player for a record sixth time.
The Barcelona magician was thought to have missed out for the fourth time in four years after successive runner-up finishes in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2016 and 2017 and not even a podium finish behind Real Madrid’s Luka Modric last year.
The master is back, however, with the Catalan front man seizing the award, his sixth since first winning the gong in 2009. This time it wasn’t a runner-up finish for Cristiano Ronaldo, either, with the Juventus forward finishing third behind Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk.
The Liverpool defender came mighty close to taking the award, too. Messi won with 686 points, just seven more than the unfortunate Van Dijk. With no defender having won it for over a decade, and no outfield defender placing in the top three since Messi first won the award, Van Dijk came so close to ending that record after a stunning year of performances.
Ironically, these included an aggregate victory against Barcelona in the semi-final of the 2019 Champions League, albeit it one which included a first leg masterclass from Messi. The fact remains, however, that Van Dijk got within just two votes of the outright victory, and he’ll be disappointed to have come so close without winning it. It’s hard to argue with his fans that he deserves. He’s the European champion, after all.
On a global scale, however, what Messi gives, particularly to children, often goes understated. He has become a catch-all talisman for statistics, as strong as his are. But while only Ronaldo can outdo him on pure numbers, Messi gives little children hope. He’s diminutive, yet so good with the ball that players could tangle themselves into knots just thinking about tackling him.
The 32-year-old may not win many more Ballon d’Ors, or indeed another. If he and Ronaldo end their quest for them here, it is the Argentine who has the win, with six of them to his name in those 11 years. He scored 54 goals for Barcelona in 2018/19, and led his team to the La Liga title. Van Dijk has yet to lead Liverpool to the league title they so cravenly cherish… but he is close.
Perhaps, after all, that award is the one Van Dijk really wants, the medal that will likely to be slipped over his head in May as supporters of other teams have drifted away, focusing on England winning the European Championships. Van Dijk may want the team award more than any personal gong.
With Liverpool’s Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker winning the best goalkeeper trophy, Juventus superstar Matthijs de Ligt winning the young player Kopa Trophy that is awarded to the best player who is under-21 player – and which is chosen by his peers – it was a glorious night in France.
Here’s what Lionel Messi had to say about the award he took home after soaking up the applause of his peers – except Cristiano Ronaldo, who was in Milan accepting a different award.
“Today is my sixth Ballon d’Or. It’s a completely different moment, lived with my family and my children. 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. I hope to continue for a long time. I realise that I am very lucky, even if, one day, retirement will ring. It will be difficult. But I still have beautiful years ahead of me. Time goes very quickly, so I want to enjoy football and my family.”
With the tiny genius having racked up 700 appearances for Barcelona, scoring 614 goals and winning 34 trophies to date with his club, perhaps the only goal left for him is to win a World Cup like his Argentine predecessor, Diego Maradona, did in what was arguably a much worse team in 1986.
The Argentine forward recently notched up 700 appearances for Barca, during which time he has scored a phenomenal 614 goals while winning 34 trophies, including 10 La Liga and four Champions League titles, and a host of other records and awards.
Here’s how the final 10 finished and the votes they attained.
| Place | Player | Points |
| 1st | Lionel Messi | 686 |
| 2nd | Virgil van Dijk | 679 |
| 3rd | Cristiano Ronaldo | 476 |
| 4th | Sadio Mane | 347 |
| 5th | Mohamed Salah | 178 |
| 6th | Kylian Mbappe | 89 |
| 7th | Alisson | 67 |
| 8th | Robert Lewandowski | 44 |
| 9th | Bernardo Silva | 41 |
| 10th | Riyad Mahrez | 33 |
Here are the 11 years that Lionel Messi won his six awards during, including every podium player who has rivaled the Argentinian for club football’s greatest individual honour.
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| 2009 | Lionel Messi | Cristiano Ronaldo | Xavi |
| 2010 | Lionel Messi | Andres Iniesta | Xavi |
| 2011 | Lionel Messi | Cristiano Ronaldo | Xavi |
| 2012 | Lionel Messi | Cristiano Ronaldo | Andres Iniesta |
| 2013 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Lionel Messi | Franck Ribery |
| 2014 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Lionel Messi | Manuel Neuer |
| 2015 | Lionel Messi | Cristiano Ronaldo | Neymar |
| 2016 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Lionel Messi | Antoine Griezmann |
| 2017 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Lionel Messi | Neymar |
| 2018 | Luka Modric | Cristiano Ronaldo | Antoine Griezmann |
| 2019 | Lionel Messi | Virgil van Dijk | Cristiano Ronaldo |
