Lionel Messi claims sixth Ballon d’Or ahead of Virgil van Dijk

It is the Barcelona players sixth time winning the award.

Mon, 02 Dec, 2019 - 20:36

Press Association

Lionel Messi has claimed a record sixth Ballon d’Or crown at the 64th ceremony in Paris.

Argentina striker Messi moved ahead of great rival Cristiano Ronaldo to take outright ownership of the Ballon d’Or record haul, seeing off Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk and Juventus’ Ronaldo.

Messi struck 54 goals for club and country in the 2018-19 season, and found the net nine times in seven games in October and November.

Here is the 2019 Ballon d'Or Top 3 ⤵️

1. Lionel Messi
2. @VirgilvDijk
3. @Cristiano

The ranking > https://t.co/cSurv8xUiL

#Ballondor pic.twitter.com/nl1fqJM1qP
— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) December 2, 2019

The 32-year-old held off the challenge of Holland centre-back Van Dijk, whose talismanic performances helped Liverpool to the Champions League title.

Messi added another Ballon d’Or to the Best FIFA Men’s award in 2019, while Liverpool’s Van Dijk had claimed UEFA’s Men’s Player of the Year.

Van Dijk could have been the first defender to lift the Ballon d’Or since Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 but Messi scuppered the Liverpool man’s chances.

Juventus defender Matthijs De Ligt claimed the 2019 Kopa Trophy for the young player award.

The centre-back helped Holland to the final of the Nations League, with his former club Ajax reaching the Champions League semi-finals.

Alisson Becker lifted the inaugural Yachine Trophy to reward the top goalkeeper, with the Liverpool man also finishing seventh in the overall Ballon d’Or vote.

Megan Rapinoe won the Women’s Ballon d’Or after leading the United States to the Women’s World Cup title, scoring six goals and laying on three assists.

England’s Lucy Bronze came second as the Lyon full-back starred in the Lionesses’ run to the semi-finals.