Ballon d’Or: It’s Messi for record sixth time

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Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best player for a record sixth time.

It is the 32-year-old Argentine’s first Ballon d’Or since 2015 and comes after he scored 54 times for club and country in 2018-19, in which Barca won La Liga.

Virgil van Dijk was second – one of four Liverpool players in the top seven, including Sadio Mane in fourth.

Juventus and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the award five times, was third in the voting.

England defender Lucy Bronze was beaten to the women’s award, finishing second behind Megan Rapinoe, who was Golden Ball winner as USA claimed a second successive World Cup in 2019.

Liverpool keeper Alisson won the inaugural Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper, ahead of Barcelona’s Germany international Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Brazilian compatriot Ederson of Manchester City.

Defender Matthijs de Ligt took the Kopa Trophy, awarded to the best under-21 player and selected by former Ballon d’Or winners.

The 20-year-old, who joined Juventus this summer after helping Ajax reach the semi-finals of last season’s Champions League, beat Borussia Dortmund and England forward Jadon Sancho to the award.

The full list

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)

2. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool and Netherlands)

3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus and Portugal)

4. Sadio Mane (Liverpool and Senegal)

5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt)

6. Kylian Mbappe (Paris St-Germain and France)

7. Alisson (Liverpool and Brazil)

8. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich and Poland)

9. Bernardo Silva (Manchester City and Portugal)

10. Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City and Algeria)

11. Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona and Netherlands)

12. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City and England)

13. Eden Hazard (Real Madrid and Belgium)

14. Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City and Belgium)

15. Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus and Netherlands)

16. Sergio Aguero (Manchester City and Argentina)

17. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool and Brazil)

18. Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona and France)

19. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool and England)

20= Dusan Tadic (Ajax and Serbia)

20= Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal and Gabon)

22. Son Heung-min (Tottenham and South Korea)

23. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham and France)

24= Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli and Senegal)

24= Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona and Germany)

28= Donny van de Beek (Ajax and Netherlands)

28= Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)

28= Marquinhos (Paris St-Germain and Brazil)

Source: BBC