Football
Messi wins the Ballon d’Or! Lewandowski only top scorer. How did all the categories turn out?
On Monday night, it was finally officially decided who was the best footballer on the planet for 2021! Not everyone may agree with it, but out of the entire world, most journalists agreed. The Ballon d’Or went to Lionel Messi. However, there were also awards in other categories. How did it turn out?
On Monday night, it was finally officially decided who was the best footballer on the planet for 2021! Not everyone may agree with it, but out of the entire world, most journalists agreed on it. The Ballon d’Or went to Lionel Messi. However, there were also awards in other categories. How did it turn out?
Best player under 21
First up was the Tropheé Kopa award, which is given to the best player under 21. There wasn’t much to discuss here. Barcelona’s Pedri earned the win with an outstanding season.
Behind Pedri, the runners-up were Jude Bellingham (Dortmund), Jamal Musiala (Bayern), Nuno Mendes (PSG), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Florian Wirtz (Leverkusen), Ryan Gravenberch (Ajax), Jeremy Doku (Rennes) and Giovanni Reyna (Dortmund).
New awards
It was not known until Monday morning that two new awards would be presented. That this would be the case was announced shortly before the ceremony started. For a change, it was already announced during the gala.
First of all, the award will be given to the top scorer of the year. This year the award went to the phenomenal Robert Lewandowski, who scored goal after goal and truly deserves the award.
The Club of the Year was Chelsea, who have come to life after the arrival of Thomas Tuchel as head coach. The Champions League win and current form are clear evidence of that.
Best goalkeeper
The Yachine Trophy is awarded to the best goalkeeper for the calendar year. For 2021 it was awarded to Gianluigi Donnarumma, who transferred from AC Milan to PSG in the summer after winning the Euros.
The Italian goalkeeper was followed by Edouard Mendy (Chelsea), Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid), Ederson (Manchester City), Manuel Neuer (Bayern), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Keylor Navas (PSG) and Samir Handanovic (Inter Milan).
Ballon d’Or
Lionel Messi won the most important award for himself. The PSG player has now had a successful year. He won the Copa América with Argentina and also shone in a Barcelona jersey. Although he still hasn’t caught on with his new team to his liking, his statistics for the year are unbeatable.
So Robert Lewandowski has not had his satisfaction for last year. At least the award for top scorer can serve as a consolation prize.
Third place went to Jorginho, with Cristiano Ronaldo finishing sixth.
Overall:
- Lionel Messi (PSG)
- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern)
- Jorginho (Chelsea)
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
- N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester City)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
- Kylian Mbappé (PSG)
- Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG)
- Erling Haaland (Dortmund)
- Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea)
- Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
- Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)
- Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
- Neymar (PSG)
- Luis Suárez (Atlético Madrid)
- Simon Kjaer (AC Milan)
- Mason Mount (Chelsea)
- Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
- Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
- Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan)
- Harry Kane (Tottenham)
- Pedri (Barcelona)
- Phil Foden (Manchester City)
- Gerard Moreno (Villarreal)
- Rúben Dias (Manchester City), Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan)
- Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
The Ballon d’Or was also awarded in women’s football. This year it was awarded to Alexia Putellas, star of Barcelona.
Source: Ballon d’Or, Twitter
