Lionel Messi wins record eighth Ballon d’Or

Lionel Messi has won a record eighth Ballon d’Or for ensuring that Argentina stormed to a remarkable World Cup triumph in Qatar last December.

Winning the award for the first time in 2009, Messi, now 36, split the accolade with Cristiano Ronaldo for 10 straight seasons until Luka Modrić broke the duopoly in 2018. He reclaimed football’s greatest individual prize in 2019 and 2021.

“They’re all special,” said Messi at last night’s ceremony in Paris. “It’s nice to be here once more to enjoy this moment, to be able to win the World Cup and achieve my dream. I couldn’t imagine having the career I’ve had, and everything I’ve achieved, the fortune I’ve had playing for the best team in the world, the best team in history. It’s nice to win these individual trophies but to win the Copa America and then the World Cup, to get it done was amazing.”

With Ronaldo now playing in Saudi Arabia and Messi at Inter Miami in the MLS, their period of dominance ended last night. Erling Haaland finished second in the voting with Kylian Mbappé third despite the Frenchman’s World Cup final hat-trick.

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Manchester City are the men’s club team of the year and Haaland’s 56 goal haul for City was recognised with the Muller trophy for the best striker. Aston Villa and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez won the Yashin trophy.

Aitana Bonmatí kept the Ballon d’Or Féminin trophy in Barcelona and Spain for a third consecutive year, succeeding two-time winner and teammate Alexia Putellas.

Bonmatí spearheaded an unforgettable year for club and country, capturing the Champions League title and the World Cup.

Australia captain Sam Kerr finished second in the voting, which changed its criteria this year to votes from 100 journalists, one each from the top 100 countries as ranked by Fifa.

Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe was on the 30 player short-list following a stellar year by the Arsenal winger. However, the 28 year old did not make the top-10, finishing in 22nd.

Still, McCabe has reached unimaginable heights for an Irish footballer in modern times. The Dubliner was named in the Champions League XI and she scored the English Women’s Super League goal of the season.

“I want to put Irish football on the map,” said McCabe after scoring a hattrick in Friday’s 5-1 defeat of Albania. “And I feel we’ve done that, we’ve got girls playing all over the world, which is a fantastic thing. The Irish are able to take part.”

[ Karen Duggan: Katie McCabe is one of a kind, a special player ]

The Ballon d’Or was only extended to the women’s game since 2018. Most top female players were unable to attend the glamorous ceremony at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris as they are in the middle of an international window. Barcelona are believed to have hired a private jet for Bonmatí and the Barcelona side that was named female club of the year. Spain face Switzerland in Zürich on Tuesday evening.

The final voting figures will be revealed by France Football magazine on Saturday.

The only Irish person to win the Ballon d’Or was George Best in 1968 but Liam Brady placed in the top 10 on three straight occasions, from 1979 to 1981. The last Republic of Ireland player in the conversion was Roy Keane back in 1999 as the Manchester United skipper finished sixth behind eventual winner, Rivaldo.

Other winners last night were England’s Jude Bellingham, who took home the Kopa trophy for being the best under-21 player in the game while Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid and Brazil received the Sócrates award for his humanitarian work.