48

The race for the 2021-22 Ballon d’Or award is getting more interesting and here are our top 5 Contenders, MySportDab reports. 

Last year’s Ballon D’Or Award was cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but now since the summer tournaments have been completed, the race is on.

Lionel Messi is the new favourite to win the 2021 Ballon D’Or Award after winning the Copa America title for Argentina.

So after a long football 2020-21 Season with top performers around Europe, who can stop Messi?

Top 5 2021 Ballon D’Or Award Favourites

1.Lionel Messi (FCB & Argentina)

We start with our new Ballon D’Or Award favourite and that is Lionel Messi.

Messi has always been respected for his status as an all-time great for all he has at Barcelona.

However, Messi has broken the badluck with the Argentina national team.

At 34, he played a very important role throughout the Copa America tournament in Brazil.

Messi scored Four goals in seven matches, with two free-kicks goals, and he played a part in nine of Argentina’s 12 goals.

He won the 2021 Copa America player of the tournament and golden boot award.

But the most important thing is that Messi ended Argentina’s wait for a first major tournament since 1993.

2. N’Golo Kante

Before the Euro 2020 and Copa America tournaments, Kante was the main favourite for the Ballon D’Or.

He was named man of the match in the semi-final legs and the final of Chelsea race to win the Champions League last season.

His performances for Chelsea under new Coach Thomas Tuchel in the final months of the season were absolutely outstanding.

it was like Chelsea had two players doing what Kante would do on the pitch at the same time.

3. Robert Lewandowski 

The Bundesliga goalscoring king is on this list due to his form for his club only and not his country.

Lewandowski performed well again for Bayern Munich last season, scoring 48 goals in 40 matches across all competitions.

Lewandowski is also now the third highest-goalscorer in Champions League history.

The Polish striker was injured and did not play in the quarter-final defeat against PSG.

However, Bayern won the Bundesliga again, their ninth title in a row.

4. Cristiano Ronaldo

The 2020-21 season was not the best for Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus.

Despite Juventus failing to win the Serie A, Ronaldo ended the season as the league’s top scorer with 29 goals.

His goals at the end of the season helped Juve seal a top-four spot.

Ronaldo also also won the Coppa Italia last season.

At Euro 2020, Ronaldo performed very well for Portugal in group stages as they tried to defend their European Championship crown.

He scored five goals during the tournament, and in every match in group of death with France, Germany and Hungary.

5. Kevin De Bruyne

De Bruyne again impressive for Manchester City last season as they won the Premier League.

De Bruyne played a key role for City, scoring 10 goals and providing 18 assists across all competitions.

He also won the PFA Player of the Year Award.

However, his season did not end as expected as he got injured in the Champions League final against Chelsea.

At Euro 2020 with Belgium, De Bruyne could not stop his country from crashing out in the quarter-finals.

Now, who do you think should win the 2021 Ballon D’Or Award?