The PSG forward edged rival Cristiano Ronaldo to claim the men’s prize, while the Barcelona star claimed a landslide victory in the women’s vote
Lionel Messi and Alexia Putellas have been crowned winners of this year’s GOAL50 awards.
Having won his first major honour at senior international level with Argentina, the Copa America, Messi has equalled Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of five GOAL50 triumphs.
He pipped his great rival to the top spot by just 24 votes, a remarkably miniscule margin of victory.
This year the rankings were decided by a series of head-to-head battles voted on by fans all over the world, who came out in force to support their favourite players.
Over 14 million votes were cast in the men’s section alone, with Messi’s battle with Ronaldo going right down to the wire.
Men’s result
All-time men’s international leading goalscorer Ronaldo led the voting going into the final 24 hours, with the polls closing at 1400 UK time on Tuesday, but Messi claimed a 50.1 per cent share of the vote against him.
Messi’s narrow victory in his head to head with third-placed Robert Lewandowski (53.3% to 46.7%) also proved crucial to his overall victory.
Elsewhere, Liverpool’s Egyptian sensation Mohamed Salah finished fourth, with Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe rounding off the top five.
You can find the final standings in the men’s vote here.
As for the women’s award, almost 10 million votes were cast via our website and GOAL apps and Putellas was the runaway victor.
Women’s results
Like Messi, she had a winning record against all 49 of her competitors and nobody came close to toppling the Barcelona Femeni captain, who topped the polls from start to finish.
Putellas was effectively recognised as the best player in the best team of 2021, as underlined by the fact that the Blaugrana’s women’s team account for the top four spots.
Irene Paredes won every head-to-head, other than her showdown with team-mate Putellas, to claim second place just ahead of Asisat Oshoala, with Lieke Martens finishing fourth.
Finally, with 24 million votes cast overall, we would just like to thank you, our readers, for making the biggest, most engaging and most exciting GOAL50 ever.
Men’s list
1) Lionel Messi – Forward, PSG and Argentina
2) Cristiano Ronaldo – Forward, Manchester United and Portugal
3) Robert Lewandowski – Forward, Bayern Munich and Poland
4) Mohamed Salah – Forward, Liverpool and Egypt
5) Kylian Mbappe – Forward, PSG and France
6) Erling Haaland – Forward, Borussia Dortmund and Norway
7) Karim Benzema – Forward, Real Madrid and France
8 ) N’Golo Kante – Midfielder, Chelsea and France
9) Kevin De Bruyne – Midfielder, Manchester City and Belgium
10) Neymar – Forward, PSG and Brazil
11) Luis Suarez – Forward, Atletico Madrid and Uruguay
12) Romelu Lukaku – Forward, Chelsea and Belgium
13) Angel Di Maria – Midfielder, PSG and Argentina
14) Bruno Fernandes – Midfielder, Manchester United and Portugal
15) Joshua Kimmich – Midfielder, Bayern Munich and Germany
16) Paul Pogba – Midfielder, Manchester United and France
17) Son Heung-min – Forward, Tottenham and South Korea
18) Harry Kane – Forward, Tottenham and England
19) Gianluigi Donnarumma – Goalkeeper, PSG and Italy
20) Edouard Mendy – Goalkeeper, Chelsea and Senegal
21) Achraf Hakimi – Defender, PSG and Morocco
22) Jorginho – Midfielder, Chelsea and Italy
23) Phil Foden – Midfielder, Manchester City and England
24) Jan Oblak – Goalkeeper, Atletico Madrid and Slovenia
25) Federico Chiesa – Forward, Juventus and Italy
26) Pedri – Midfielder, Barcelona and Spain
27) Lautaro Martinez – Forward, Inter and Argentina
28) Riyad Mahrez – Forward, Manchester City and Algeria
29) Ruben Dias – Defender, Manchester City and Portugal
30) Giorgio Chiellini – Defender, Juventus and Italy
31) Mason Mount – Midfielder, Chelsea and England
32) Kai Havertz – Forward, Chelsea and Germany
33) Memphis Depay – Forward, Barcelona and Netherlands
34) Leonardo Bonucci – Defender, Juventus and Italy
35) Keylor Navas – Goalkeeper, PSG and Costa Rica
36) Raheem Sterling – Forward, Manchester City and England
37) Ilkay Gundogan – Midfielder, Manchester City and Germany
38) Lorenzo Insigne – Forward, Napoli and Italy
39) Jack Grealish – Midfielder, Manchester City and England
40) Emiliano Martinez – Goalkeeper, Aston Villa and Argentina
41) Dani Alves – Defender, Brazil
42) Christian Pulisic – Midfielder, Chelsea and USA
43) Luke Shaw – Defender, Manchester United and England
44) Koke – Midfielder, Atletico Madrid and Spain
45) Nicolo Barella – Midfielder, Inter and Italy
46) Gerard Moreno – Forward, Villarreal and Spain
47) Hulk – Forward, Atletico Mineiro and Brazil
48) Burak Yilmaz – Forward, Lille and Turkey
49) Mohamed Sherif – Forward, Al Ahly and Egypt
50) Takefusa Kubo – Forward, Real Madrid (on loan at Real Mallorca) and Japan
Women’s list
1) Alexia Putellas – Midfielder, Barcelona and Spain
2) Irene Paredes – Defender, Barcelona and Spain
3) Asisat Oshoala – Forward, Barcelona and Nigeria
4) Lieke Martens – Forward, Barcelona and the Netherlands
5) Sydney Lohmann – Midfielder, Bayern Munich and Germany
6) Caroline Graham Hansen – Forward, Barcelona and Norway
7) Mapi Leon – Defender, Barcelona and Spain
8 ) Kosovare Asllani – Midfielder, Real Madrid and Sweden
9) Vivianne Miedema – Forward, Arsenal and the Netherlands
10) Lina Magull – Midfielder, Bayern Munich and Germany
11) Pernille Harder – Forward, Chelsea and Denmark
12) Ingrid Engen – Midfielder, Barcelona and Norway
13) Fran Kirby – Forward, Chelsea and England/Team GB
14) Jennifer Hermoso – Forward, Barcelona and Spain
15) Linda Dallmann – Midfielder, Bayern Munich and Germany
16) Patri Guijarro – Midfielder, Barcelona and Spain
17) Aitana Bonmati – Midfielder, Barcelona and Spain
18) Ji So-yun – Midfielder, Chelsea and South Korea
19) Ashley Lawrence – Defender, PSG and Canada
20) Magdalena Eriksson – Defender, Chelsea and Sweden
21) Sam Kerr – Forward, Chelsea and Australia
22) Mariona Caldentey – Forward, Barcelona and Spain
23) Saki Kumagai – Defender, Bayern Munich and Japan
24) Marie-Antoinette Katoto – Forward, PSG and France
25) Esther Gonzalez – Forward, Real Madrid and Spain
26) Hanna Glas – Defender, Bayern Munich and Sweden
27) Khadija Shaw – Forward, Manchester City and Jamaica
28) Svenja Huth – Forward, Wolfsburg and Germany
29) Christen Press – Forward, Angel City and USA
30) Cristiana Girelli – Forward, Juventus and Italy
31) Caitlin Foord – Forward, Arsenal and Australia
32) Christiane Endler – Goalkeeper, Lyon and Chile
33) Lucy Bronze – Defender, Manchester City and England/Team GB
34) Lynn Williams – Forward, North Carolina Courage and USA
35) Wendie Renard – Defender, Lyon and France
36) Debinha – Forward, North Carolina Courage and Brazil
37) Ellie Carpenter – Defender, Lyon and Australia
38) Kadidiatou Diani – Forward, PSG and France
39) Caroline Seger – Midfielder, Rosengard and Sweden
40) Becky Sauerbrunn – Defender, Portland Thorns and USA
41) Grace Geyoro – Midfielder, PSG and France
42) Dzsenifer Marozsan – Midfielder, OL Reign and Germany
43) Sam Mewis – Midfielder, North Carolina Courage and USA
44) Eugenie Le Sommer – Forward, OL Reign and France
45) Vanessa Gilles – Defender, Bordeaux and Canada
46) Crystal Dunn – Midfielder, Portland Thorns and USA
47) Kadeisha Buchanan – Defender, Lyon and Canada
48) Sandy Baltimore – Forward, PSG and France
49) Stina Blackstenius – Forward, BK Hacken and Sweden
50) Nicole Billa – Forward, Hoffenheim and Austria
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