Argentina and Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has become the favorite to become the record holder of the number of times he won the Ballon d'Or for the best player in the world, when the results of the annual vote by France Football magazine are announced on Monday.
After the Dutch star Virgil van Dijk was nominated to become the first defender to win the award since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 for his leadership of Liverpool to win the Champions League, the data turned in September when Messi was selected for the FIFA World Player of the Year award. They beat Van Dijk, current Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo, Liverpool star Mohamed Salah and Egypt's Salah, as their chances of winning the Golden Ball are weak.
Messi was named World Player of the Year for the sixth time in his career, although the odds favored Van Dijk, who was voted best by UEFA in August for his contribution to Liverpool's Champions League title and solutions and runners-up to Manchester City. By one point in the Premier League.
Like the FIFA Award, which was incorporated in the Golden Ball from 2010 to 2015, Messi hopes to be the only player he shares with Ronaldo (5 titles each) at the concert at the Château Theater in Paris.
As usual, France Football reduced the list of candidates to 30 and left the name of last year's gold medalist Croatia's Real Madrid playmaker Luka Modric and Paris Saint-Germain's Neymar, the French striker's first-ever drop and a second injury that led to a long absence. About the stadiums.
Neymar was 12th in last year's standings, which also saw his long absence after a metatarsal operation.
With Modric ending Ronaldo-Messi's monopoly for 10 consecutive years by leading his country to the World Cup final in Russia and crowning Real Madrid as European champions, Van Dijk hopes to miss expectations and deprive Messi of returning to the throne. The vote is attended by 180 sports journalists from around the world.
Messi, 32, led Barcelona to a La Liga title last season and was crowned Liga top scorer with 36 goals. He was also the top scorer in the Champions League with 12 goals, and reached the semi-finals with his team, before the loss to Liverpool (3-0 round, zero -4 forth). In the national team, Messi was eliminated with Argentina in the semi-finals of the Copa America in South America by Brazil, which later won the title.