Paris,
Lionel Messi won a record sixth men’s Ballon d’Or award at a ceremony in Paris on Monday, beating Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk to take the honours.
Now aged 32, it is Messi’s first Ballon d’Or since 2015 and his sixth overall as he moves one ahead of his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who finished third in the voting.
Messi, who attended the ceremony at the Chatelet Theatre in the French capital with his wife and children, succeeds Luka Modric, the Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder who won the prize last year.
The Barcelona number 10 previously won the award in 2009, 2010, 2011 and in 2012 before claiming his fifth Ballon d’Or in 2015.
This latest honour comes after he also claimed FIFA’s equivalent award, The Best, in September.
“It is 10 years since I won my first Ballon d’Or here in Paris and I remember coming here with my three brothers, I was 22 and it was all unthinkable for me what I was going through,” Messi said on stage.
“Now ten years on this is my sixth, in a very different time, very special in my personal life with my wife and three children.”
The Argentine added: “I am aware of the age I have but I hope I have several years left to keep enjoying my football and doing this.”
Sadio Mane, another of the stars of the Liverpool side that won the Champions League, came fourth in the ranking for the prize voted for by 180 journalists from around the world.
Messi has scored 46 goals in 54 matches so far in 2019, and netted 36 times in total in 34 La Liga matches last season as Barcelona won the Spanish crown.
United States World Cup icon Megan Rapinoe won the women’s Ballon d’Or prize.
Rapinoe, 34, succeeds Norway’s Ada Hegerberg, the inaugural winner of the women’s prize last year, after starring on and off the field as the US retained the World Cup in France in July.
The winners and other top finishers in the four trophies awarded at the 2019 Ballon d’Or ceremony:
1. Lionel Messi (ARG/Barcelona)
2. Virgil van Dijk (NED/Liverpool)
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (POR/Juventus)
4. Sadio Mane (SEN/Liverpool)
5. Mohamed Salah (EGY/Liverpool)
6. Kylian Mbappe (FRA/PSG)
7. Alisson Becker (BRA/Liverpool)
8. Robert Lewandowski (POL/Bayern Munich)
9. Bernardo Silva (POR/Manchester City)
10. Riyad Mahrez (ALG/Manchester City)
WOMEN
1. Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC)
2. Lucy Bronze (ENG/Lyon)
3. Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride)
4. Ada Hegerberg (NOR/Lyon)
5. Viviane Miedema (NED/Arsenal)
6. Wendie Renard (FRA/Lyon)
7. Sam Kerr (AUS/Chicago Red Stars)
8. Rose Lavelle (USA/Washington Spirit)
9. Ellen White (ENG/Manchester City)
10. Dzsenifer Marozsan (GER/Lyon)
(Best player under 21 on December 31)
1. Matthijs de Ligt (NED/Ajax Amsterdam then Juventus)
2. Jadon Sancho (ENG/Borussia Dortmund)
3. Joao Felix (POR/Benfica then Atletico Madrid)
(Best goalkeeper, presented for the first time)
1. Alisson Becker (BRA/Liverpool)
2. Marc-Andre ter Stegen (GER/FC Barcelona)
3. Ederson (BRA/Manchester City)
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