Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk was second, ahead of Juve’s Cristiano Ronaldo and fellow Reds forward Sadio Mane
Last Updated: 02/12/19 9:27pm
Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi has won the Men’s Ballon d’Or for a sixth time.
Messi was involved in 63 goals in total in the past 12 months for both club and country, including 46 goals and 17 assists as the playmaker helped Barca to retain their La Liga crown.
1 – Lionel Messi was involved in 63 goals in 2019 for @FCBarcelona and @Argentina (46 goals and 17 assists), averaging 1’17 per game (GP54). Gold. #BallonDor #BallonDor2019 pic.twitter.com/DEWphX6fKW
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) December 2, 2019
“I would like to thank all of the journalists who voted for me and wanted me to have this prize,” said Messi after picking up the award in Paris on Monday night alongside his two sons and wife.
“Thank you so much to my colleagues who have actually contributed a lot to this prize. It is amazing, thank you so much.”
2019 Ballon d’Or top 10
| Lionel Messi |
| Virgil van Dijk |
| Cristiano Ronaldo |
| Sadio Mane |
| Mohamed Salah |
| Kylian Mbappe |
| Alisson |
| Robert Lewandowski |
| Bernardo Silva |
| Riyad Mahrez |
Messi was presented with the gong by 2018 winner Luka Modric and that means as well as this year, the Argentina international has also won the Ballon d’Or in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
The Barca captain beat Liverpool’s Netherlands centre-back Virgil van Dijk into second place, while his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo was third in the voting, with Liverpool forward Sadio Mane fourth.
“”It was an amazing year, but there’s a couple of players like that who are a bit unnatural,” said Van Dijk.
“So you need to respect greatness as well. I was close, but there was just someone a little bit better. I’m very proud of what I achieved last year with Liverpool and the Netherlands, and hopefully we can do that again this year. But that will be tough with those guys around here still.”
Meanwhile, Van Dijk’s Liverpool team-mate Alisson won the inaugural Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper, ahead of Barca’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Manchester City No 1 Ederson.
And the other winner in the French capital was Juventus’ summer signing Matthijs de Ligt, who was took home the Kopa Trophy for the best U21 player of the past year.
The Netherlands international, 20, claimed the award ahead of Borussia Dortmund’s England forward Jadon Sancho after helping his previous club Ajax to last season’s Eredivisie title and the Champions League semi-finals
Follow more coverage from Paris after Lionel Messi is crowned the 2019 Ballon d’Or winner
Messi’s incredible career in numbers
| 701 – appearances for Barcelona |
| 614 – goals for Barcelona, including a record 428 in LaLiga. |
| 91 – goals scored in 2012, breaking the calendar-year record set by German Gerd Muller in 1972. |
| 52 – career hat-tricks; 46 for Barcelona, six for Argentina. |
| 138 – caps for Argentina. |
| 70 – goals for Argentina, his nation’s all-time leading scorer. That tally includes his two in the 2008 Olympics. |
| 10 – LaLiga titles with Barcelona. |
| 4 – Champions League wins. |
| 6 – times he has won the Ballon d’Or, as the world’s best player (in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019). |
| 2 – Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the only players to have won more than three Ballon d’Or awards. |
| 34 – trophies won with Barca. |
| 2008 – Olympic gold in Beijing is Messi’s only major honour with Argentina. |
| 47 – seconds into his Argentina debut before he was sent off, against Hungary in 2005, aged 18, after coming on as a substitute. |
| 67 – Messi’s height in inches (5ft 7in). |
| 16 – Age at which Messi made his Barcelona first-team debut. |
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