Lionel Messi trumps Haaland and Mbappé to win the Ballon d’Or for the eighth time | Foreign football

Messi sets the record, which he already had firmly in hand, even sharper. He won the Golden Ball for the first time in 2009 and repeated it in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021. His eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who won five times, was not among the (in total) for the first time in twenty years 30) nominees. There were also no Dutch people on the shortlist.

In addition to winning the world title, Messi became French champion with Paris Saint-Germain last season. He then moved to Inter Miami, the club of owner David Beckham. The former English top player had the honor of presenting the Golden Ball to Messi at the gala in Paris.

Messi dedicated the Golden Ball to his teammates from Argentina with whom he became world champion and to Diego Maradona. The football legend, who died in 2020, would have turned 63 years old on Monday. “Congratulations Diego, this one is for you too,” said the Argentinian star in Paris. To also send a message to his fans: “I want to continue playing football for years to come.”

In the women’s category, the Golden Ball went to Aitana Bonmatí. The Spanish midfielder was crowned world champion with Spain and won the Champions League with Barcelona. Orange Lionesses Jill Roord and Daphne van Domselaar were also among the nominees on the list of France Football magazine, but were stuck in shared 29th place.

The Kopa Trophy for greatest talent went to Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham. The 20-year-old Englishman defeated, among others, Dutch international Xavi Simons in the election.

Bellingham was awarded the trophy for his performances at Borussia Dortmund last season (performances between August 1, 2022 and July 31, 2023 were taken into account). He scored fourteen goals in 42 games for Germany’s number 2. With England he reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar. He was rewarded for his performances with a transfer to Real Madrid.

Simons, who played for PSV last season, was one of the ten nominees for the award. In the past, the Dutch Rafael van der Vaart (2003) and Matthijs de Ligt (2018) won the election.

The award for the best goalkeeper of the season went to the Argentinian Emiliano Martínez. The Aston Villa goalkeeper won the Lev Yashin Trophy in Paris after helping his country win the World Cup title in Qatar. Martínez is the successor to Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. The trophy is named after Lev Yashin, the legendary Soviet goalkeeper who made waves in the 1950s and 1960s.

Real Madrid striker Vinícius Júnior received the Socrates Award for his contribution off the football field. The Brazilian received the award for his foundation that builds schools in poor areas in Brazil and invests in education. “I am very happy to have received this award and to be able to help as many children as possible in Brazil,” he said.

Vinícius said he will also continue to speak out against racism. The striker has himself been the victim of racism several times in recent years. “It is very sad that we have to talk about racism these days, but we must continue this fight so that people suffer less from it.”

Read the live blog below, with the report of the evening.