The 65th edition of the Ballon d'Or awards ceremony, which is presented annually by the French magazine "France Football", was held at the historic Théâtre du Châtelet in the capital, Paris.

first place:

Argentina's Lionel Messi wins the 2021 Ballon d'Or.

Second place:

Polish Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich star.

the third place:

Italian Georgino (Chelsea)

fourth place:

French Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

Fifth place:

France's N'Golo Kante (Chelsea)

Yashin Award for Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2021:

The Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma, the protector of the French Paris Saint-Germain, crowned her.

Positions from 6 to 10 for the 2021 Ballon d'Or competitors:

6- Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

7- Egyptian Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

8- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)

9- French Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)

10. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain)

2021 Women's Ballon d'Or winner:

Spanish Alexia Putillas, Barcelona star.

Best Striker Award: Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich star.

The Cuban Award for the Best Young Player Under 21 years old:

Barcelona star Pedri Gonzalez wins the award.

And the official website of France Football magazine, two hours before the start of the ceremony, began revealing, in descending order, the final list from 30th to 11th place for the contenders for the Ballon d'Or for 2021:

It is noteworthy that players with equal positions received the same number of votes:

29 Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

29 - Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)

26 - Nicolo Barilla (Inter Milan)

26 - Gerard Moreno (Villarreal)

26 Ruben Diaz (Manchester City)

25 - Phil Foden (Manchester City)

24 Pedri Gonzalez (Barcelona)

23 Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)

21 Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)

21 Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)

20 - Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)

19 Mason Mount (Chelsea)

18 Simone Kerr (AC Milan)

17 Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid)

16 Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)

15 - Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

14 - Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)

13 Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)

12 Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea)

11 - Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)

France Football revealed two new awards at the award ceremony, in addition to its well-known awards for best player, best female player, best young player (under 21) and best goalkeeper.

It is noteworthy that the “France Football” awards last year were canceled due to the emerging Corona virus pandemic.

On the 8th of last October, the famous French magazine published the names of the 30 candidates to win the Ballon d'Or for 2021 in 6 batches, each batch included 5 names, as has been the case in recent years.

The two Arab stars, Mohamed Salah and Riyad Mahrez, were among the 30 nominees to win the award.

The first batch:

Algerian Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City), French N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Norwegian Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund), Italian Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), English Mason Mount (Chelsea).

The second installment:

England's Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), England's Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) and Italian Nicolo Parilla (Inter Milan).

third batch:

Argentine Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain), Portuguese Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Spaniard Pedri (Barcelona), Croatian Luka Modric (Real Madrid) and Italian Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus).

Fourth batch:

Belgian Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Brazilian Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), Portuguese Ruben Diaz (Manchester City), Argentine Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan) and Denmark's Simon Kjaer (AC Milan).

Fifth batch:

Poland's Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Italy's Georgino (Chelsea), Egypt's Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Spain's Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea) and Belgium's Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea).

Sixth batch:

Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Spain's Gerard Moreno (Villarreal), England's Phil Foden (Manchester City), French Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) and Uruguayan Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid).

How to choose the winner of the "Golden Ball 2021":

180 journalists from around the world vote to choose the winner of the Ballon d'Or.

The last winner of the award was Argentine Lionel Messi in 2019, to win the Ballon d'Or award with six balls (the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019), and he broke up the partnership with the traditional rival, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, the Manchester United striker, who won the award five times. (Years 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017).

This is the 65th edition of the Ballon d'Or, since its launch in 1956, as it witnessed its merger with the International Football Association "FIFA" between 2010 and 2015 before their separation.

List of Ballon d'Or winners since its inception:

2019: Lionel Messi

2018: Croatia's Luka Modric

2017: Cristiano Ronaldo

2016: Cristiano Ronaldo

2015: Lionel Messi

2014: Cristiano Ronaldo

2013: Cristiano Ronaldo

2012: Lionel Messi

2011: Lionel Messi

2010: Lionel Messi

2009: Lionel Messi

2008: Cristiano Ronaldo

2007: Brazilian Ricardo Kaká

2006: Fabio Cannavaro, Italy

2005: Brazilian Ronaldinho

2004: Ukrainian Andrey Shevchenko

2003: Czech Pavel Nedved

2002: Brazilian Ronaldo

2001: England's Michael Owen

2000: Luis Figo, Portugal

1999: Brazilian Rivaldo

1998: French Zinedine Zidane

1997: Brazilian Ronaldo

1996: Matthias Sammer, Germany

1995: Liberian George Weah

1994: Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian

1993: Italian Roberto Baggio

1992: Dutch Marco van Basten

1991: Jean-Pierre Papin, French

1990: German Lothar Matthaus

1989: Dutch Marco van Basten

1988: Dutch Marco van Basten

1987: Dutch Ruud Gullit

1986: Soviet Igor Bilanov

1985: Frenchman Michel Platini

1984: Frenchman Michel Platini

1983: Frenchman Michel Platini

1982: Italian Paolo Rossi

1981: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Germany

1980: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Germany

1979: England's Kevin Keegan

1978: England's Kevin Keegan

1977: Denmark's Allen Simonsen

1976: German Franz Beckenbauer

1975: Soviet Oleg Blokhin

1974: Johan Cruyff, Dutch

1973: Dutchman Johan Cruyff

1972: German Franz Beckenbauer

1971: Johan Cruyff, Dutch

1970: Gerd Muller, Germany

1969: Italian Gianni Rivera

1968: Welshman George Best

1967: Hungarian Florian Albert

1966: England's Bobby Charlton

1965: Portuguese Eusebio

1964: Scotsman Dennis Lowe

1963: Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin

1962: Czechoslovakian Joseph Masopust

1961: Italian-Argentine Omar Sivori

1960: Luis Suarez, Spain

1959: Alfredo Di Stefano of Spain

1958: Frenchman Raymond Cuba

1957: Alfredo Di Stefano of Spain

1956: Englishman Stanley Matthews.

France Football magazine established the "Yashin Prize" in 2019 in honor of the former Soviet goalkeeper, the legend Lev Yashin, nicknamed the spider, and he is the only goalkeeper, so far, to receive the Golden Ball award for the best player, and that was in 1963, In addition to the award for the best goalkeeper of the last century by the International Football Association "FIFA".

The first edition of the Yashin Award was won by Brazilian Alisson Becker, the defender of the Liverpool team, in 2019.