Seven times Ballon d’Or winner

Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi was omitted from the 30-man list of nominees for the prestigious award on Friday for the first time since 2005.

The Argentina great edged out Poland striker Robert Lewandowski for the Ballon d’Or last year but was not nominated this time after an underwhelming first season at Paris Saint-Germain.

The 2022 Ballon d’Or longlist pulled off a big surprise as there was no mention of Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina stalwart Lionel Messi in the 30-man list.

Messi seems to have not been considered because of the average season he had with Paris Saint-Germain the last term, but Cristiano Ronaldo cut having an ordinary season with Manchester United.

Ronaldo and Messi have been ruling the roost at Ballon d’Or ceremonies, winning a total of 12 Golden Balls between themselves.

While Ronaldo last stood on the top podium spot in 2017, Messi was the winner of the prestigious award last year.

It seems to have worked against Messi in his awful goalscoring record for PSG in the 2021-22 season. In the entire campaign, the Argentine maestro only scored 11 goals across all competitions, while only 6 of those came in the Ligue 1.

Though Messi did give a total of 14 assists last season, the stat doesn’t seem to have been considered by France Football.

Ronaldo, in comparison, scored a total of 24 goals last season for Manchester United across all competitions while giving just 3 assists. 18 of these goals had come in the Premier League. It’s fair to say that in terms of goals, the Portuguese were quite ahead of the Argentines.

It is also the 17th consecutive occasion that Ronaldo was nominated for the Ballon d’Or.

As far as the Ballon d’Or 2022 award goes, Karim Benzema is the outright favourite to win the trophy for the first time in his career.

The Real Madrid striker had an exceptional season where he led his club from the front and lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy for the 5th time in his career.

Lionel Andrés Messi

Lionel Andrés Messi was born on 24 June 1987 also known as Leo Messi, Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi relocated to Spain to join Barcelona at the age of 13, for whom he made his competitive debut aged 17 in October 2004.

He established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, and in his first uninterrupted season in 2008–09 he helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football; that year, aged 22, Messi won his first Ballon d’O.

He was an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team.

Often considered the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.

Awards And winnings:

Messi has won a record seven Ballon d’Or awards, a record six European Golden Shoes, and in 2020 was named to the Ballon d’Or Dream Team.

Until leaving the club in 2021, he had spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he won a club-record 35 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles and four UEFA Champions Leagues.

Three successful seasons followed, with Messi winning four consecutive Ballons d’Or, making him the first player to win the award four times in a row.

During the 2011–12 season, he set the La Liga and European records for most goals scored in a single season, while establishing himself as Barcelona’s all-time top scorer.

The following two seasons, Messi finished second for the Ballon d’Or behind Cristiano Ronaldo (his perceived career rival), before regaining his best form during the 2014–15 campaign, becoming the all-time top scorer in La Liga and leading Barcelona to a historic second treble, after which he was awarded a fifth Ballon d’Or in 2015.

Messi assumed the captaincy of Barcelona in 2018, and in 2019 he won a record sixth Ballon d’Or. Out of contract, he signed for Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021.

Messi has endorsed sportswear company Adidas since 2006. According to France Football, he was the world’s highest-paid footballer for five years out of six between 2009 and 2014 and was ranked the world’s highest-paid athlete by Forbes in 2019 and 2022.

Messi was among Time’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2011 and 2012. In February 2020, he was awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, thus becoming the first footballer and the first team sport athlete to win the award.

Later that year, Messi became the second footballer (and second team-sport athlete) to surpass $1 billion in career earnings.

Ballon d’Or

The Ballon d’Or means Golden Ball is an annual football award presented by French news magazine France Football since 1956.

Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (founded in 1991) and is known as the FIFA Ballon d’Or.

That partnership ended in 2016, and the award reverted to the Ballon d’Or, while FIFA also reverted to its separate annual award The Best FIFA Men’s Player.

The recipients of the joint FIFA Ballon d’Or are considered winners by both award organisations.