Lionel Messi was named the best player in the world by France Football magazine for the seventh time. It was the first prize since moving from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain. With the seventh trophy, he expanded his hegemony as the biggest winner of the award. The ceremony took place at the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris.
Messi
“Good evening everyone. The truth is, it’s amazing to be here again. Two years ago, I thought it would be my last years, I didn’t imagine I’d be here again,” said the star, who added. I’ve won this award many times and I felt that something was missing, but this year it was different, I managed to fulfill my dream of winning with Argentina after having stumbled so many times”, said the ace who received the award from his friend Luís Suárez.
The Polish Robert Lewandowski, from Bayern Munich was in second place and the Brazilian midfielder naturalized Italian Jorginho, who had a great season for Chelsea and the Italy national team, was third. The trio was followed by Karim Benzema, French forward for Real Madrid, and defensive midfielder Kanté, for Chelsea.
Delivered since 1956, the Argentine won the seventh award (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021), equaling Pelé, who won the trophy in 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1970 – all delivered late, since until 1995 the magazine limited the prize to European athletes.
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