2021 Ballon d’Or winner to be announced today
The 2021 Ballon d’Or winner will be announced today, 29th November at a prestigious awards ceremony that was cancelled last year due to the outbreak of coronavirus that affected all activities in the world including football.
Report has it that either Robert Lewandowski or Lionel Messi is the most favourite to emerge as a winner.
The Bayern Munich and Poland striker pilfered a Bundesliga record 41 goals in just 29 games last season to eclipse the long-standing mark set by the late Gerd Mueller.
Lewandowski, 33, scooped FIFA’s prize for best male player of 2020 and has the backing of both coach Julian Nagelsmann and Bayern team-mate Thomas Mueller after a prolific start to the new campaign.
Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have combined to win 11 of the past 12 editions of the Ballon d’Or, the lone exception in 2018 when Luka Modric helped Real Madrid to another Champions League triumph and inspired Croatia to the World Cup final.
While Messi has endured a stop-start beginning to life at Paris Saint-Germain, the Argentine bagged 30 league goals in his farewell season at Barcelona and also won the Copa del Rey.
Further strengthening his case was a first major international trophy in July, as Argentina beat rivals Brazil to win the Copa America at the Maracana — ending the country’s 28-year wait for the title.
Ronaldo last took home the trophy in 2017. The Champions League’s all-time top scorer has struck in all five games in Europe during his second spell at Manchester United but appears an outside contender for a sixth Ballon d’Or.
See list of winners of Ballon d’Or from 1956 to 2019
1956: Stanley Matthews (Blackpool)
1957: Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)
1958: Raymond Kopa (Real Madrid)
1959: Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)
1960: Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
1961: Omar Sivori (Juventus)
1962: Josef Masopust (Dukla Prague)
1963: Lev Yashin (Dynamo Moscow)
1964: Denis Law (Manchester United)
1965: Eusebio (Benfica)
1966: Bobby Charlton (Manchester United)
1967: Florian Albert (Ferencvaros)
1968: George Best (Manchester United)
1969: Gianni Rivera (AC Milan)
1970: Gerd Muller (Bayern Munich)
1971: Johan Cruyff (Ajax)
1972: Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)
1973: Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)
1974: Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)
1975: Oleg Blokhin (Dynamo Kyiv)
1976: Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)
1977: Allan Simonsen (Borussia Monchengladbach)
1978: Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)
1979: Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)
1980: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)
1981: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)
1982: Paolo Rossi (Juventus)
1983: Michel Platini (Juventus)
1984: Michel Platini (Juventus)
1985: Michel Platini (Juventus)
1986: Igor Belanov (Dynamo Kyiv)
1987: Ruud Gullit (AC Milan)
1988: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)
1989: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)
1990: Lothar Matthaus (Internazionale)
1991: Jean-Pierre Papin (Marseille)
1992: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)
1993: Roberto Baggio (Juventus)
1994: Hristo Stoichkov (Barcelona)
1995: George Weah (AC Milan)
1996: Matthias Sammer (Borussia Dortmund)
1997: Ronaldo (Internazionale)
1998: Zinedine Zidane (Juventus)
1999: Rivaldo (Barcelona)
2000: Luis Figo (Real Madrid)
2001: Michael Owen (Liverpool)
2002: Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
2003: Pavel Nedved (Juventus)
2004: Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan)
2005: Ronaldinho (Barcelona)
2006: Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid)
2007: Kaka (Milan)
2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
2009: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
2010: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
2011: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
2012: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
2013: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
2014: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
2015: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
2016: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
2017: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
2018: Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
2019: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
2020: Canceled due to the pandemic