Charlie Smith
BARCELONA’S talismanic striker Lionel Messi has beaten Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo to claim the Ballon d’Or for a record sixth time.
The 32-year-old Argentine forward bagged football’s top prize after he netted 54 times for club and country from 2018-2019.
“Today is my sixth Ballon d’Or. It’s a completely different moment, lived with my family and my children,” he said.
“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.”
Messi finished ahead of Dutch defender van Dijk, who helped his club Liverpool to overcome Tottenham and win the Champions League in Madrid this summer.
In third place was former Real Madrid star Ronaldo, who completed a big money move to Juventus last year.
Meanwhile American striker Megan Rapinoe, who led the US national team to a second successive World Cup this year, won the Golden Ball award, with England’s Lucy Bronze second.
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)
