2019 Ballon d'Or

The 2019 Ballon d'Or (French: Ballon d'Or) was the 64th annual ceremony of the Ballon d'Or, presented by France Football, and recognising the best footballers in the world for 2019. Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi won his record-breaking sixth award and broke the tie with Cristiano Ronaldo for most Ballon d'Or awards. Virgil van Dijk came in a very close second after a stellar year with Liverpool and Netherlands national team while Cristiano Ronaldo came in third with Juventus.

Ballon d'Or

The nominees for the awards were announced on 21 October 2019.

Controversy

The edition of the award was controversial in that while many believed that Messi was the rightful winner of the award, many others believed that Virgil van Dijk had been unfairly overlooked. Jürgen Klopp stated afterwards: "Last season, if you really go for only that season, then I cannot remember a more impressive season for a defender ever, honestly. So it would have been right as well if Virgil would have won it." Steven Gerrard concurred, stating: "I'm Messi's number one fan, for sure. I love the player. Obscene numbers in his game in terms of assists and goals. I'm definitely a Messi fan, in the gang. … But if you talk about consistency from one player over a year, who wins the European Cup and is absolutely faultless in every performance, that means you deserve to win the Ballon d'Or."

Ballon d'Or Féminin

Megan Rapinoe won the 2019 Ballon d'Or Féminin for best female player in the world.

Kopa Trophy

Matthijs de Ligt won the 2019 Kopa Trophy for the best player in the world under the age of 21.

Yashin Trophy

Alisson won the inaugural Yashin Trophy as the best goalkeeper in the world in 2019.

References