Argentine star Lionel Messi was crowned with the Ballon d'Or award for the best player for the year 2021, surpassing his competitors from the world's football stars.
Messi won the award for the seventh time in his history, consolidating his record as the most awarded player, and widening the difference from his Portuguese rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the Golden Ball 5 times.
Messi's coronation came after a mixed season at the club and national level, as he crowned the Copa America with Argentina last summer, but he faced multiple problems with Barcelona last season before he had to leave for Paris Saint-Germain at the beginning of the current season.
France Football magazine first chose the 30 nominees for the award, followed by a vote of 180 journalists, to choose 5 players from that group.
Then 50 professional journalists vote to choose the best player in the world, using a points system that consists of giving each player 6, 4, 3, 2 or 1 point.
On the other hand, Robert Lewandowski, the Polish top scorer for Bayern Munich, won the Player of the Year award in 2021, after his success last season in breaking the legend Gerd Muller’s number of goals for the player in the German League during one season, where the Polish star scored 41 goals.
He is currently the top scorer in the Bundesliga this season, with 14 goals, and shares with Ajax Amsterdam striker Sebastian Heller the list of top scorers in the Champions League this season with nine goals each.
Barcelona player Pedri won the "Copa" award for the best young player in the world for the year 2021, outperforming many young talents, led by German Jamal Musiyala of Bayern Munich and his compatriot Florian Vertes of Bayer Leverkusen and the Borussia Dortmund duo consisting of Englishman Judd Bellingham and American Gio Reina, along with Portuguese footballer Nuno Mendes, Paris Saint-Germain.
Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma won the Yashin Award for the best goalkeeper in the world.
Donnarumma won the Euro 2020 title with the Italian national team, in addition to winning the award for the best player in the tournament.