Who Will Win 2021 Ballon d’Or?

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The Ballon d’Or award ceremony is one of the most anticipated events in the football world. The award, first given out in 1956, is presented by the French weekly magazine, France Football, to the best footballer of the year.

The prestige of the Ballon d’Or is such that the editor-in-chief of France Football, Pascal Ferre, recently revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo confessed to him that his core aim is to have won more Ballon d’Or awards than Lionel Messi by the time he retires. This is according to the Madrid-based daily, Marca.

The 2021 edition of the Ballon d’Or is the 65th award ceremony. The men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or winners will be crowned at a gala event at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris on Monday, November 29.

The event will also hand out the Kopa Trophy, given to the best men’s player under 21; and the Yashin Trophy handed to the best goalkeeper.

The last men’s Ballon d’Or winner is the Argentine skipper Lionel Messi, who in 2019 picked up his sixth award, the most in the award’s history.

It was in the 2019 ceremony that Eric Cantona while accepting the UEFA President’s Award, befuddled the world with his cryptic poem speech, which he opened with a line from William Shakespeare’s “King Leah”.

The 2020 Ballon d’Or award was a few shades stranger than Cantona’s speech, not because it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but because it was cancelled even though most of the football world knew that one player stood head and hips above his peers and most deserved the honour: the Polish striker, Robert Lewandowski.

Since then, “Lewy was robbed” has become a staple argument in many conversations among football enthusiasts.

Since the 30-man shortlist for the 2021 ceremony was announced on October 8, there have been daily debates on social media (and bars and barbershops) as to who will go home with this year’s award.

The 30-man shortlist includes Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema, Pedri, Jorginho, Kevin De Bruyne, Rúben Dias, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Nicolò Barella, N’golo Kante, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Bruno Fernandes, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Simon Kjær, Romelu Lukaku, Riyad Mahrez, Lautaro Martinez, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Raheem Sterling, Mohammed Salah, Gerard Moreno, Mason Mount, Cesar Azpilicueta, and Luka Modric.

However, out of the 30 nominees, these five players have been touted by many as standing the most chance of clinching the award: Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema, Jorginho, and N’golo Kante.

Each of their performances will now be assessed before Monday’s likely winner is stated.

Karim Benzema

In 2021, Benzema registered an impressive tally of 42 goals and 14 assists.

He was also among the French team that won the UEFA Nations League.

However, his failure to win a major tournament stands against him, as the Nations League is not considered to be a serious competition by many.

In 2020, ex-Arsenal FC manager, Arsene Wenger said, “We need to get rid of the Nations League and find clearer events that everyone understands.”

Benzema’s chances may also be hampered on the basis of morality, as a Versailles court on Wednesday found the French forward guilty of complicity in attempted blackmail against his French teammate Mathieu Valbuena.

N’golo Kante

The French midfielder was crucial in Chelsea’s Champions League triumph last season, claiming UEFA’s Player of the Match award in both semi-final legs against Real Madrid as well as the final against Manchester City.

He also won the UEFA Super Cup with Chelsea but registered only 2 goals and 1 assist in 2021.

His chances are hampered by fact that defensive midfielders rarely win the award.

Jorginho

In 2021, the Italian midfielder scored eight goals and had three assists.

He won Euro 2020, Champions League, and the UEFA Super Cup. He was also named the UEFA Player of the Year.

While Jorginho ends the year with much silverware to his name, he did not give a standout individual performance for either club or country.

Robert Lewandowski

The Pole scored 54 goals and made 10 assists in 2021. He also won the Bundesliga, Club World Cup, and DFL-Supercup.

Last season, Lewandowski set a new Bundesliga single-season goals record on match-day 34, netting his 41st of the campaign to surpass Gerd Müller’s 49-year-old record of 40 goals.

There is no doubt that Robert Lewandowski would have won the Ballon d’Or in 2020 had it not been controversially cancelled by France Football.

With 180 journalists voting on the Ballon d’Or, there may well be a large number of them who believe that Lewandowski’s 2020 performance should be recognized with the 2021 award.

Lionel Messi

In 2021, the Argentine scored 41 goals and registered 14 assists.

He won the Copa del Rey with his former club, FC Barcelona. And he led Argentina to their first silverware since 1993, winning the Copa America, where he was also named Player of the Tournament and won the Golden Boot.

The reason why a seventh Ballon d’Or looks likely this year is down to his international achievement.

At the Copa America, he had the joint-most goals (4) and chances created (21), as well as the most goal contributions (9), assists (5), shots (28), and shots on target (11) – a typically influential showing which this time resulted in silverware.

2021 Ballon d’Or Likely Winner:

Lionel Messi.

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