Lewandowski bagged 34 goals in 31 league games, with Immobile managing 36 in 37. Read about our approach to external linking. Luckily, Immobiles improbable feat didnt repeat itself, and wouldnt have mattered if it did. The Ballon d'Or award is an annualfootballawardfor the best player over the previous year. Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. Many fans feel that 2020 standout Robert Lewandowski was robbed of the honour, while others debate Lionel Messi put up an admirable defence of the award.. As we approach 2020's The Best FIFA Football Awards, on the same day in which the Ballon d'Or is typically announced, I aimed to . Gareth Bale (Tottenham and Real Madrid), 8. Ronaldo's two award wins have also since been matched by Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi. Robert Lewandowski has had an excellent season and is in contention to win the Ballon d'Or this year. We won everything we could with Bayern. The narrative of the event was focused on theend of his trophy drought with the Albiceleste, but he was Argentina's third-most influential playerbehind midfielderRodrigo De Paul and goalkeeper Emiliano "Dibu" Martinez. For other inquiries, Contact Us. It was also the 34-year-old player's fourth consecutive victory at the awards, and it came after he helped Juventus win the 2018-19 Serie A title in his debut season in Italy and also played a vital role in Portugal's victory in the Nations League. Seven-time winner Lionel Messi was not on the list (for the first time since 2005), though Ronaldo did make the cut.The ceremony announcing the winners was held on October 17 at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. Well not every sport, as there is a list of unusual sports, extinct sports and newly created sports. Bayern Munich striker and Polish forward Robert Lewandowski was regarded as unlucky to lose out on the 2020 Ballon d'Or award, which was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. . The 2022 Ballon dor will be presented in October, with the prestigious award now being given to the best player over a season rather than a calendar year. The last Bundesliga player to win was Borussia Dortmund's Matthias Sammer in 1996. The Ballon d'Or award is an annual football award for the best player over the previous year. Since 2008, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the prestigious World Soccer award, with Xavi and Luka Modric bucking the trend in 2010 and 2018 respectively. He doesnt excite voters. I think a player who achieves this would win the Ballon dOr.. 30 - Mbapp (9th) His pice de rsistance in this seasons Champions League came in form of a hat-trick against Paris Saint Germain, which saw Los Blancos recover from 0-2 on aggregate to claim a 3-2 win and secure their place in the quarter-finals. The 33-year-old is on course to win a 10th Bundesliga title this season with Bayern nine points clear of Borussia Dortmund on the top of the table. . One of world footballs hottest young prospects is at the centre of attention once again, with his supposedly imminent move to Real Madrid now seemingly in doubt following reports he could sign a new deal with Paris Saint Germain. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. Web With the 2022 FIFA World Cup now behind us the race for the 2023 Ballon dOr is well and truly on. It made for a curiouscoincidence that France Football, the publication thathas been awarding theBallon d'Orsince 1956, came up with a new award in 2021 to honor the best striker in the world. Yes he won an international trophy, but theres a difference between winning the Copa America with Argentina and competing in the Euros with Poland. In every competition Bundesliga, German Cup and the Champions League I was the top scorer. Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Atletico Madrid), 9. He was the only Liga player to be ranked in the top 10 places in 2021, and holds the leagues best hope of glory once again. Cmon France Football, do something right for once. Since 2018, there has also been a women's Ballon d'Or award (called the Ballon d'Or Fminin). Robert Lewandowski - 69 goals (2021) . Robert Lewandowski believes he will finally be able to win the Ballon d'Or now he's with Barcelona, having twice been unlucky to miss out on the prestigious award. Bayern's Bundesliga campaign starts 26 days after their Champions League final win over Paris St-Germain. Was it the individual stats without the context? Lewandowski's year featured both consistency and results. Whatever happens, Messi will not be winning a fifth Champions League title this season following PSGs aforementioned Champions League exit to Real Madrid. Get your ticket to 2023 Ballon d'Or ceremony during L'quipe sports photography auction buying 2 artistic and unique NFT created by Lo Caillard ! It's a sentiment that many were also voicing in the wake of Messi's latest triumph: Imagine winning all this but not the Ballon d'Or pic.twitter.com/DSeFRjD4OW, 47 goals in 2020. The 34-year-old has also illustrated his importance as a leader within the camp after skippering the side in the absence of Marcelo. "I think every player who won what we won or scored so many goals should maybe win this Ballon d'Or.". We all know he should . Lewandowski is unlikely to win the Ballon d'Or in his career now, with Karim Benzema the clear favourite for the 2022 accolade. Johan Cruyff won three. He recorded 206 points from voters on his home continent, compared to Messi's 151. Lewandowskis coach, Hansi Flick, acknowledges that he is lucky enough to have the best striker in the world at his disposal. The only variation to date in the men's game came in 2021 when Lionel Messi controversially won the Ballon d'Or and Robert Lewandowski was awarded FIFA's The Best. Ballon d'Or. Lewandowski has been prolific since moving to Germany and Borussia Dortmund in 2010 but 2019-20 was by far and away his best scoring season. His importance to PSGs attack is clear to see with 11 assists so far in all competitions, but eight goals in 27 appearances is hardly eye-catching when comparing it to the likes of Benzema and Lewandowski in particular. R. Caswell 6mo ago LIVE Points 592 Rating Did this Help Answer Your Question? Messi was good this year, but nowhere near as good as Lewy was. We'll soon find out whether Lewandowski was an outright snub for some of those who had a vote, and whether there were any media who didn't even have him in their top three. After a fallow Ballon d'Or year for Lionel Messi in 2022, he is way out in front of the 2023 bettingfor a trophy he won in 2022. . It has been dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in recent years, with the duo winning 11 of the 13 awards up for grabs since 2008 Luka Modric briefly broke their duopoly in 2018 before Benzema snatched the 2022 trophy. Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland came 11th in the vote, while Bayern captain Manuel Neuer was fifth in the goalkeeping category. Angel di Maria (Real Madrid and Manchester United), 3. 6. George Best won a Ballon d'Or. 'Political award' - Ibrahimovic says Ballon d'Or snub due to Mr Perfect criteria, Ballon dOr overhauled in major shake up to award. Robert Lewandowski will have more reason to be upset than anyone at Lionel Messis seventh Ballon dOr triumph. Not bad for a player rejected by Legia Warsaw as a teenager! The Athletic's John Muller has used date to prove that Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski was robbed of the Ballon d'Or after Lionel Messi received the accolade for a seventh time. The Bayern man is the reigning Best FIFA Mens Player and recently picked up the European Golden Shoe as Europes top scorer in the 2020/21 season after he scored 41 goals to break Gerd Mllers 49-year record for most goals in a Bundesliga campaign. Messi's numbers may look better on paper (stats below as of the voting deadline of Oct. 24), but the twoalso play the game very differently. It might not seem that long ago since Karim Benzema was picking up the 2022 Ballon d'Or, but the race for the 2023 award has already picked up plenty of steam. Robert Lewandowski54 games64 goals9 assistsBundesliga and DFL Supercup winner, Lionel Messi56 games41 goals17 assistsCopa del Rey and Copa America winner, Cristiano Ronaldo60 games43 goals6 assistsCoppa Italia winner, Karim Benzema58 games43 goals13 assistsUEFA Nations League winner, Erling Haaland46 games44 goals10 assistsDFB Pokal winner, Kylian Mbappe62 games45 goals20 assistsUEFA Nations League winner. The Frenchman scored 44. Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski has finally won one of the few individual trophies that has eluded him so far the European Golden Boot (also called shoe, but "boot" sounds cooler), which is awarded to the highest domestic scorer in Europe for the season. It couldn't happenbecause of the pandemic, but I think you should also have it in your home.". Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (founded in 1991) and known as the FIFA Ballon d'Or.That partnership ended in 2016, and the award . This article first appeared in the Winter Edition of World Soccer. Either Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo (five wins). Unfortunately, the award was cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The overall winner for the prestigious honour will now be determined after journalists from LEquipe and France Football have their say, alongside the selections from Ballon dOr ambassador Didier Drogba. His 28 goals in 37 appearances across all competitions this season have proven to be crucial, as he seeks to become the first African winner of the award since George Weah in 1995. Lewy was forced to be a one-man-show. The Portugal star has also recorded six second-place finishes as well as coming third once. The numbers have been frightening. Franz Beckenbauer and Alfredo Di Stfano won two. All rights reserved. ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI will go down as one of the greatest players this generation. The 2023 Ballon d'Or ceremony will take place next autumn. Lewandowski scored 16 goals more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues across all competitions in 2019-20, as he was top scorer in the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup. However, this summer saw the end to his spell in the Bundesliga as Lewandowski sought a new challenge, joining Barcelona in La Liga. In only two of those seasons has the winner scored more than Lewandowski's 55 goals (Messi's 73 in 2011-12 and 58 in 2014-15). The Poland international has been one of the most prolific scorers in European football over the last 12 years,. With the exception of 2018, he has been named Polish Footballer of the Year every year since 2011, an honour that he will undoubtedly claim in 2020 as well. From Miami to Manchester! + " " + md.getFullYear()). Players removed: Achraf Hakimi, Mohamed Salah. However, he missed out on the European Golden Shoe - for the top league scorer in the continent - to Lazio's Ciro Immobile. Club career Early career "When I was six, I remember Roberto Baggio at the 1994 World Cup. Stats only tell part of the story in theside-by-side comparison. The recent history of the Ballon d'Or award would seem to indicate that there is no equivocation about what voters are actually rewarding: It's a player's performanceover the course of a season and the individual and team accolades that come with it. Poland's record goalscorer has continued that ruthless streak in front of goal in 2021 but it still wasn't enough as Lionel Messi secured his seventh Ballon d'Or on Monday night. Messi won the seventh Ballon d'Or on Monday, but said Lewandowski, the runner-up, should have won last year. So, Xavi will have his task cut out when it comes to team selection and tactics as he looks to arrest the minor slump that Bara find themselves in before things . Lewandowski is a finisher and pure striker; Messi is more of a magicaldribbler and creative force, who sees more of the ball. You were the rightfulwinner [last year]. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) 9. In the 2020/21 season, Lewandowski scored an incredible 48 goals and provided nine assists in 40 matches in all competitions, as Bayern won the Bundesliga, DFL-Supercup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA. Quite simply, he has not stopped finding the back of the netsince the start of the year, continuing what's now a years-long, nonstopscoring spree. Jorginho (Italy, Chelsea), 460 pts. Lionel Messi admitted Robert Lewandowski "deserved to win the Ballon d'Or". . How to get on these lists? The award, widely considered to be the most prestigious individual honour in football, has been the property of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi since the pair of all-time greats took over in 2008, aside from one year. var months = new Array ("January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December") For more information, visit ow.ly/hElK50LwENy. Messi has won the men's Ballon d'Or award a record seven times, Cristiano Ronaldo has won the award five times. News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services. His haul of 48 goals last season came in only 40 competitive appearances as he positions himself to become the first Polish player to be named the best in the world. "I felt sad, I have nothing to hide," Lewandowski said. A brace against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Nations League in October took him to 63 goals in 114 caps. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan and Barcelona), 7. His chances are very high probably even higher than last year. Lewandowski deserved it. Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City) has landed in 8th, Mo Salah (Liverpool) in 7th and Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) 6th. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. In the second phase, journalists, fans, national team managers and captains all have a 25% of weight on the final results. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. The fact head coach Julian Nagelsmann, sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic and CEO Oliver Kahn have made the trip could bode well for Lewy Lewandowski isn't just Bayern's talisman, he's Poland's, too. To claim one, to Ferr, is to claim a . Ballon d'Or/Winners (2021) 'Golden Ball ') is an annual football award presented by French news magazine France Football since 1956. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain), 9. Lewandowski won it, and it felt like an early consolation prize a short time before Messi was announced as the men's Ballon d'Or winner. The ceremony for the Fifa Best Awards - which are slightly less prestigious - was also cancelled, although Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge saysexternal-link Fifa will still be handing out an award to the world's best player. When we look back at the 2021 Ballon d'Or, that inconsistency will be a hard one to explain. Wayne Rooney (Everton and Manchester United), 10. It is arguably the most eye-catching in a. Incredibly, he has managed to score 40-plus goals in seven consecutive years and this incredible consistency surely gives him a big chance of claiming the award for the first time. "Congratulations also to all nominated players. Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan), 8. Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus and Real Madrid), 6. penalties by Serie A referees. The 2020 edition of the Ballon d'Or was controversially cancelled by France Football, who cited the COVID-19 pandemic as their reason for doing so. He can head the ball, finish and hold it up. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich and Barcelona), 10. Robert Lewandowski Not a chance. Only journalists vote in the latter theres no clear verification.. Join GOAL as our 12-month Ballon d'Or Power Rankings journey continues (Previous update: February 13, 2022. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United and Real Madrid), 7. The 32-year-old also led Poland to Euro 2020 (which has been delayed until next year), with four goals and two assists in six qualifiers in 2019-20. Simon Borg is a senior editor for football/soccer at The Sporting News. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Or Lewandowski's 1st? The elite pressing unit that Flick has introduced at the Allianz Arena simply wouldnt be possible without the work that Lewandowski puts in up front. Last year, Lewy narrowly missed out on the honor due to Ciro Immobile being awarded 14 (!) Lewandowski turns 34 next year, but 2022 is also a World Cup year. 49 - Lewandowski (2nd) Despite all the knee injuries, Ronaldo still managed to win two Ballon d'Or awards in 1997 and 2002. Analysis and opinion from our chief football writer. Bayern Munich get the Bundesliga season under way on Friday against Schalke as Robert Lewandowski bids to build on one of the greatest seasons ever. Robert, you deserve your Ballon dOr, the PSG forward said when accepting his prize. And when it comes to attacking, Lewandowski is the standard-setter for the second year running, leaving Messi and Ronaldo trailing in his wake once again. Messi's seventh Ballon d'Or felt like a soft call by the Ballon d'Or jury if we compare to what Lewandowski attained with Bayern and Poland in 2020-2021. He ended the campaign as top scorer in the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League with a total of 55 goals. In the last two years Messi has made the podium as Robert Lewandowski has won the title, but the 35-year-old's career-crowning World Cup triumph was the defining moment of 2022. So what could have ultimately swayed media in Messi's direction? Its also interesting to see who made it into voters lists of the top ten footballers in the world from every year since the turn of the millennium, including this one. Robert Lewandowski won the Best Men's Player award the previous two years in a row Cristiano Ronaldo did not make the 14-player shortlist for the Best Player award this year for the first time ever.