Ballon d’Or is an annual football award which is presented by the French news magazine France Football. This is one of the oldest and one of the most prestigious individual awards for Footballers.
Currently, Lionel Messi has lifted this trophy six times which is the highest. Cristiano Ronaldo is sitting just behind the Argentina international with five. Last season this award was not presented to anyone due to the Covid restrictions. During this dominance of the Argentine and the Portuguese superstars, only Luka Modric has managed to lift this trophy back in 2018.
Potential winners of Ballon d’Or 2021:
5. Cristiano Ronaldo:
The 36-year-old is still going high and flying. Last season, he won the Serie A golden boot with 29 goals with Juventus. The forward has also won the Euro 2020 Golden Boot with five goals and an assist. He has now scored 20+ goals in the last 15 consecutive seasons with three different clubs.
Following Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United, the fans started to dream big as the Portuguese will guarantee goals for the Red Devils. However, it will not be easy for him to finish in the top three of the Ballon D’or this year let alone winning it as he failed to win any major trophy last term with the Bianconeri and the national team.
4. N’Golo Kante:
This award could have been him this year if he could win the European Championship. The 30-year-old had an astonishing season last term for Chelsea, winning the Champions League and becoming the man of the match-winner in two semi-finals and finals.
The midfielder also won the midfielder of the season award by UEFA. He also had an excellent campaign in the European Championship, however, France’s disappointing defeat in the round of 16 stages has put him in the back seat to lift this award.
3. Jorginho:
The other Chelsea midfielder is fully in the conversation to lift this award this year. After winning the UEFA Champions League and Euro 2020, he won the UEFA player of the year award as well. The 29-year-old played a crucial role for his club and country to win the aforementioned trophy, however, Jorginho had plenty of supporting cast around him to win those competitions. So, it will be interesting to see if he wins this award or not.
2. Lionel Messi:
After winning the first major trophy with Argentina, the 34-year-old has made a real case for himself to lift this award for the seventh time. Messi also scored 43 goals in all competitions for club and country last term. So, he will be one of the favourites to win the Ballon D’or this year.
The forward also won the La Liga and Copa America’s highest scorer award. Following a stellar campaign last term, he will be the biggest favourite to win this award for record time.
1. Robert Lewandowski:
The Polish international would have surely won this award last year if it hadn’t been cancelled due to the pandemic. He won the treble and every possible trophy in club football. The 33-year-old also had an amazing season last term, scoring 48 goals. He broke Gerd Muller’s record of 40 goals in a Bundesliga season by scoring one more than the late legend last campaign.
The striker won the Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich. So, keeping his performance in mind in the last two campaigns, there is no one should win this trophy other than Lewandowski. With the award being cancelled the last term, this year it should be given by taking the consideration of the performance over the last two campaigns.
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