Paris St-Germain and Argentina forward, Lionel Messi has been crowned winner of this year’s Ballon d’Or after he beat 29 other players to the title.
Messi is winning the Ballon d’Or, a title awarded to the best player on the planet for the season, for a record-extending seventh time.
- Indian-American Parag Agrawal takes over from Jack Dorsey as Twitter CEO
- Police rescue soldier, 15 others abducted by insurgents
The 34-year-old helped Argentina win this year’s Copa America as they defeated Brazil in the final in July, which also meant Messi’s first major international trophy.
The star forward left Barcelona this summer after the Spanish side failed to keep him following the end of his contract, as he joined Paris Saint-Germain.
In his final season with Barcelona, Messi had another brilliant individual campaign despite Barca’s struggles.
As well as breaking Pele’s record of the most goals for one club, Messi became the first player in history to score at least 20 goals in 13 consecutive seasons in Europe’s top five leagues.
He also broke Gerd Muller’s record of scoring 30 plus goals in 12 consecutive club seasons, as well as surpassing Xavi’s record for most Barca appearances.
In the ranking, Robert Lewandowski came second, followed by Jorginho and Karim Benzema while the N’Golo Kante finished on fifth spot.
For the women’s category, Barcelona and Spain forward Alexia Putellas was crowned the best player, becoming the third ever woman to the win the Ballon d’Or.
Putellas was one of five Barcelona players nominated after their first Champions League triumph, as well as winning the Primera Division title.
