Paris Saint Germain forward Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world for a record seventh time, beating Robert Lewandowski and Jorghino to bag soccer's most coveted award.
Messi 34, captained his team Argentina to win Copa America his first international honour and has netted 40 goals in 2021,28 for Barcelona, four for PSG, and eight for Argentina.
Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski came second , while Jorghino( Chelsea) and Karim Benzema ( Real Madrid) came third and fourth respectively.
The Ballon d'Or is voted for by 180 journalists around the world.
"It's incredible to be here again," he said at the ceremony, held at Paris's Theatre du Chatelet.
"Two years ago I thought it was the last time. People were starting to ask me when I was going to retire but now I'm here in Paris and very happy.
"It's a special year for me with this Copa America title. It meant a lot to win [1-0 against Brazil in the final] at the Maracana stadium and I was so happy to celebrate with the people from Argentina.
"I don't know if it's the best year of my life - I've had a long career - but it was a special one with the title with Argentina after the tough times and the criticism."
In the women's category, Barcelona's Alexia Was awarded the Ballon d'Or after leading her team to a spectacular win in the League, Champions League, and Spanish Cup.
The 27-year-old scored 37 goals and made 27 assists.
Other winners include;
Young Barcelona star Pedri who took home the Kopa Trophy after being named the Best Under-21 player of the Year. The young Spaniard has featured immensely for his club and national side, including at the recently concluded Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Poland star Lewandowski was pleased to win the new award - Best Striker of the Year – after scoring 38 goals in 30 Bundesliga games for Bayern Munich, and totalling 53 this calendar year, more than any other player in Europe.
PSG’s young Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma won the ‘Yashin Trophy’ – Best Goalkeeper of the year, after standing in post for Euro 2020 winners Italy.
In another new award, Chelsea was named Club of the Year, after a stellar Champions League and Super Cup campaign under Thomas Tuchel.
Italian Jorginho, who came in third place, had a fantastic season with both Chelsea and Italy, after being pivotal in the teams that won the Champions League, the Super League and the European Championship.
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