Barcelona’s magician, Lionel Messi has been crowned as the world best player, winning his career 6th and 2019 Ballon d’Or award.
The Argentine beats 30 other nominees to take home a record 6th Ballon d’Or, as Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk and Ronaldo came second and third respectively.
Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk was the favourite with the bookies, but once again, Lionel Messi was in the corner to steal the award as the best.
The Ballon d’Or has been awarded by France Football every year since 1956, with England’s Stanley Matthews the first winner.
It was only for European players until 1995, when it expanded to become open for any player at a European club. From 2007 it opened up to the rest of the world.
The 30-man list of nominees is compiled by the editorial staff of the French magazine, with the winner voted for by journalists from around the world, with one representative per nation.
From 2010 to 2015 it merged with Fifa’s awards, but they split and the world governing body set up its own awards again in 2016. Last year was the first to include a women’s award.
Messi and Ronaldo are the only two players in the world to have won it multiple times, with five each, but with this latest news, Messi now has one more, making it six and one more surpassing Ronaldo’s five…#2019ballonDor #messi #lionelmessi