Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’or 2019 award for the best player in the calender year
It’s been a good year for Messi, who scored more goals than anyone in the 2018/2019 season, winning the La Liga with Barcelona as well as the pichichi award for the topscorer in the division.
Messi also finished as the European topscorer ,scoring 35 league goals and adding another 14 in the UEFA Champions League.
Other winners on the Ballon d’or gala night were Megan Rapinoe who was named best women player of the year, with Lucy Bronze and Alex Morgan finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. Matthijs De Ligt also won the Kopa trophy for best young player of the year and Allison Becker who won the inaugral Yachine trophy.
5 Africans made the Ballon d’or top 30 list with 3 finishing in the top 10 and 2 in the top 5.
The top 10 for the Ballon d’or 2019 is as follows:
1. Lionel Messi – Argentina
2. Virgil Van Dijk – Netherlands
3. Cristiano Ronaldo -Portugal
4. Sadio Mane-Senegal
5- Mohammed Salah – Egypt
6. Kylian Mbappe – France
7. Alison Becker- Brazil
8. Robert Lewandowski- Poland
9. Bernardo Silva -Portugal
10. Riyadh Mahrez- Algeria
With six awards, Messi is now the only player with the most ballon d’or awards in history.
