Just a few days ago, the Ballon d’Or 2021 ceremony was organized by France Football to recognize the best footballers in the calendar year. As Ballon d’Or 2020 wasn’t organized due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest Ballon d’Or ceremony was a special moment.
Unsurprisingly, Argentine superstar Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or 2021 as he set a new record of winning seven Ballon d’Or trophies. One of the greatest forwards in football history scored 32 goals in 40 matches from January to November 2021. Moreover, he also managed to produce 12 assists in that same period.
The legendary Barcelona forward is now playing for Paris Saint-Germain since early this ongoing season. This year Messi helped Argentina to win their 15th Copa America title, which was also their first international trophy since 1993. Due to finishing as the joint leading goal-scorer in the Copa America 2021 (four goals), Messi won the Best Player Award of this tournament along with the Top scorer award.
Messi also helped Argentina to easily qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2022.
There is no doubt that Messi is one of the deserving players to win the Ballon d’Or 2021. However, there are some other top players, who played top influential roles for their respective teams in this calendar year. Here we are talking about the top five other deserving footballers who could also win the Ballon d’Or 2021.
Harry Kane :
English striker Harry Kane is enjoying a great time in the ongoing calendar year. The Tottenham Hotspur star won the Golden Boot at the end of the 2020/21 Premier League for scoring 23 goals in that season. Moreover, he also finished that PL season with the most assists (14). But his team only finished in the seventh position in the 2020/21 PL as they managed to qualify for the play-off round for the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League.
However, Kane’s ongoing PL season is surprisingly very dull as he has only scored one goal in 12 appearances. But he is performing well in the ongoing inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League as the Spurs star has already scored six goals in five games (including playoffs).
Kane is also shining for the Three Lions as the England skipper is the joint most international goal-scorer in this calendar year with 16 goals. He scored four goals in the UEFA Euro 2020 as his boys just missed out on England’s first-ever European Championship trophy by finishing as the runners-up after losing the final against Italy in the penalty shoot-out. The joint third most goal-scorer in the UEFA Euro 2020 also finished as the joint leading goal-scorer in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers (UEFA) after scoring 12 goals, including two hat-tricks in the last two games (he scored four goals in their final qualifier match). He helped England to comfortably qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2022 without losing any qualifier game.
Overall, Kane scored 25 goals and also had seven assists in 44 games between January and November 2021. Though he is not among the top-most goal-scorers this year, he has played many influential roles both for his club and nation. Kane was in the 23rd position in the Ballon d’Or 2021.
Gianluigi Donnarumma :
Italian youngster Gianluigi Donnarumma is undoubtedly one of the best goalkeepers in 2021. His hands helped the Azzurri to win their second European Championship title after beating England (by penalty shoot-out) in the final of the UEFA Euro 2020. He won the Player of the Tournament award in the UEFA Euro 2020 as he became the first goalie to win this award since it officially started in the 1996 edition.
Donnarumma also played a vital role for AC Milan to finish in the second spot in the 2020/21 Serie A, where he jointly led the clean sheet table of that season (14 clean sheets). Surely, he won the Best Goalkeeper award after the end of that Italian Serie A season.
In the ongoing season, Donnarumma is serving for Paris Saint-Germain.
Donnarumma won the Yashin Trophy in the Ballon d’Or 2021 ceremony, which is an award for the best performing goalkeeper in the year. However, the Italian goalkeeper managed to finish in the 10th spot in the Ballon d’Or 2021.
Mohamed Salah :
Talking about one of the deserving winners of Ballon d’Or 2021, Egyptian Mohamed Salah can surely come in the front rows due to his dream form this year. While he has already inscribed his name in the legendary book of the Premier League club Liverpool, he first played vital roles to secure his PL club’s spot in the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League. In the 2020/21 PL, Salah finished as the second leading goal-scorer with 22 goals and The Reds managed to end in the third spot in the points table.
While Liverpool is dominating in the ongoing European season (both in PL and UCL), Salah is the biggest reason. He is currently leading both the 2021/22 PL goal-scoring and assists lists with the numbers of 13 and eight respectively. Salah has also scored six goals in the ongoing UCL season.
Moreover, Salah also scored two goals in five matches for his nation this year. Overall, the winger scored 32 goals in this calendar year till November. In those 46 matches, he also provided nine assists. However, he finished in the seventh position in the Ballon d’Or 2021.
Jorginho :
Italian midfielder Jorginho can’t forget the year 2021 as it is one of the dreams for every footballer. The regular defensive midfielder not only played a key role in Italy’s victory in their second UEFA Euro title this year, but he also took massive responsibility for Chelsea’s second UEFA Champions League title in the 2020/21 season. Jorginho is now also playing an important role in Chelsea’s dominance in the ongoing 2020/21 Premier League.
In most games, Jorginho plays a complete role in the defensive midfield position. Apart from his accurate passes and successfully handling the opponent attackers, he also plays some key roles to help the scoreline movement for his teams.
In the contest of Ballon d’Or 2021, Jorginho finished in the third spot.
Robert Lewandowski :
Before even announcing the Ballon d’Or 2021, many had a strong belief that the Polish striker Robert Lewandowski should win it. In the calendar year 2021, the Bayern Munich superstar is leading the table of most goal-scorer in global top football competitions till November. Before the last month of this year, he scored a total of 53 goals in 42 matches. He was also involved in six assists in this period.
While Bayern Munich once again won the Bundesliga title in the 2020/21 season, the leading goal-scorer Lewandowski completely outclassed everyone with 41 goals. Unsurprisingly, The FCB is playing some top football in the ongoing season while Lewandowski is already leading the 2021/22 Bundesliga goal-scorer table with 14 goals. He has also maintained a similar form in the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League as he is the joint leader in the goal-scoring table with nine goals.
Lewandowski also scored three goals for Poland in the Group Stage of the UEFA Euro 2020. He has further scored eight goals this year in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers (UEFA), which just helped Poland to earn the playoff opportunity.
The 2021 goal-machine just missed out on the Ballon d’Or 2021, which could be his first Ballon d’Or trophy. However, he managed to win the Striker of the Year award in the same Ballon d’Or 2021 ceremony.
Must Read | All Ballon d’Or Award Winners List
