The Ballon d'or has been officially announced. Here are the top 30 players in the order they came. PSG's Lionel Messi wins the award, with Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski coming in behind in second place.
30. Luka Modric (Real Madrid + Croatia)
29. Cesar Azpillicueta (Chelsea + Spain)
28. Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan + Italy)
27. Ruben Dias (Manchester City + Portugal)
26. Gerard Moreno (Villareal + Spain)
25. Phil Foden (Manchester City + England)
24. Pedri (Barcelona + Spain)
23. Harry Kane (Tottenham + England)
22. Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan + Argentina)
21. Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United + Portugal)
20. Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City + Algeria)
19. Mason Mount (Chelsea + England)
18. Simon Kjaer (AC Milan + Denmark)
17. Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid + Uruguay)
16. Neymar (PSG + Brazil)
15. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City + England)
14. Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus + Italy)
13. Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus + Italy)
12. Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea + Belgium)
11. Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund + Norway)
10. Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG + Italy)
9. Kylian Mbappe (PSG + France)
8. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City + Belgium)
7. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool + Egypt)
6. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United + Portugal)
5. N'Golo Kante (Cheslea + France)
4. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid + France)
3. Jorginho (Chelsea + Italy)
2. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich + Poland)
1. Lionel Messi (PSG + Argentina)
Author Verdict
Just like most awards, it's too predictable and certain players are favoured. This unfortunately has had a major impact on this year's award. Robert Lewandowski, Mohamed Salah and Karim Benzema have arguably had better years than Lionel Messi, especially the Bayern Munich striker.
It makes these ceremonies pointless as it doesn't really reward the best player in they year. Lionel Messi has been sensational this year, he even finally got a Copa America title added to his achievements but what Lewandowski has done has gone under the radar.
Liverpool's own Mohamed Salah has, for me, been better individually than Messi too. He practically dragged a half fit Liverpool team to the top four and this season, well, no one has hit his level so far this season.
Lionel Messi is the best player to ever play football, however the award this season, should not have been his.
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