Star Argentine footballer Lionel Messi achieved the record for winning the most Ballon d’Or awards after he received the prestigious award for the seventh time in his career on November 29, 2021. The forward defeated two of his biggest football rivals, Robert Lewandowski and Cristiano Ronaldo to lift the award in Paris. He previously won the award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and then went on to lift the award for the record eighth time in 2023.
Lionel Messi had a memorable 2020-21 season where he won the Copa del Rey with Barcelona on April 17, 2021. He also scored two goals in the final against Athletic Club as Barcelona won the match by 4-0, to lift their 31st Copa del Rey title. Apart from that, Messi also led Argentina to their 15th Copa America title on July 10, 2021, also finishing as the joint-highest goal-scorer of the tournament with four goals.
I hope many more: Lionel Messi after winning 7th Ballon d’Or
After winning the prestigious award, Lionel Messi expressed his gratitude, and also mentioned that there are many more years of football left in him. “I'm very happy to be here, happy to keep fighting for new trophies. don't know how many years I have left, but I hope many more. I'd like to thank all my (former) teammates at Barcelona and Argentina,” Messi said as quoted by Sportstar.
However, this wasn’t the last Ballon d’Or award that Messi won. The star footballer had another great season where he had the best moment of his career, leading Argentina to the FIFA World Cup title after 36 years in 2022. After that, Messi went on to win his eighth Ballon d’Or award in 2023. He currently has most Ballon d’Or awards to his name, winning it eight times. On the other hand, Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo has won the prestigious award five times in his career, while Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff, and Marco van Basten have won the award three times each.
