Will Lionel Messi win another Ballon d’Or? If so, the famous Argentine will reach another historic milestone!

29. november, a gala evening will be held where, among other things, we will learn the name of the new winner of the Golden Ball. One of the favourites is, of course, Argentine legend Lionel Messi. However, if he wins this award, he will reach another historic milestone!

Not only would Messi’s seventh Ballon d’Or win put him ahead of his biggest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, but Argentina would catch Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands in the number of wins.

It would probably go straight to the top of the list. These three countries share the top seven positions.

Five Germans have won the Ballon d’Or in history – the first was Gerd Müller in 1970. Franz Beckenbauer won twice, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge won the Ballon d’Or twice, followed by Lothar Matthäus and the last one was Matthias Sammer in 1996.

As far as the latter country is concerned, apart from Ronaldo, two other Portuguese players have received the award – Eusébio and Luis Figo. And the same number of players is also seen in the Netherlands, here these are other very well-known legends.

In 1971, 1973 and 1974, Johan Cruijff won the Ballon d’Or. Thirteen years later, Ruud Gullit was named the best footballer on the planet, followed by Marco van Basten, who took the trophy three more times.

Argentina would be completely unique in this case. As we have written above, it would be equal to the three most successful countries. However, of the potential top four, it would be the only country to have only one winner and to have accumulated the same number of championships.

Messi himself, however, does not mince words. “My greatest achievement is what I have achieved with the national team. After fighting so hard for this success, this is the best I could achieve,” Messi said in an interview with Sport.

“If I win the Ballon d’Or, it will be absolutely special. A seventh win would be crazy. If it doesn’t come, nothing will happen. I have achieved one of my big goals,” he concludes.

And in football terminology – if the PSG striker wins another Ballon d’Or, he will already be within two points of Ronaldo.

The 36-year-old Portuguese is hot on Messi’s heels. He has five overall titles to his name. But they both have one very serious rival and we believe you know who we are talking about.

That’s right, the hot candidate to win the Ballon d’Or is Robert Lewandowski.

Sources