Ballon d'Or rankings: Ronaldo comes 3rd, Liverpool dominate top 10
Lionel Messi took home his record sixth Ballon d'Or award on Monday, with 29 other candidates rounding out the typically star-studded field of finalists.
Some observers had tipped Liverpool stalwart Virgil van Dijk to pip the diminutive Argentine to the honor, but the Dutchman settled for second place. Had he captured the accolade, Van Dijk would've become the first defender since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 to claim football's most coveted individual prize.
Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, finished third in the voting, and now sits one trophy behind Messi's all-time leading tally.
European champions Liverpool dominated the remainder of the top ten. With Sadio Mane (fourth) and Mohamed Salah (fifth) joining Van Dijk near the pinnacle of the list, the Reds became the first team since Barcelona in 2016 to have three players finish in the top five.
Here's how the 30 finalists ultimately stacked up:
Rank | Player | Club | Country |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Argentina |
2 | Virgil van Dijk | Liverpool | Netherlands |
3 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Juventus | Portugal |
4 | Sadio Mane | Liverpool | Senegal |
5 | Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | Egypt |
6 | Kylian Mbappe | PSG | France |
7 | Alisson* | Liverpool | Brazil |
8 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | Poland |
9 | Bernardo Silva | Manchester City | Portugal |
10 | Riyad Mahrez | Manchester City | Algeria |
11 | Frenkie de Jong | Barcelona | Netherlands |
12 | Raheem Sterling | Manchester City | England |
13 | Eden Hazard | Real Madrid | Belgium |
14 | Kevin De Bruyne | Manchester City | Belgium |
15 | Matthijs de Ligt** | Juventus | Netherlands |
16 | Sergio Aguero | Manchester City | Argentina |
17 | Roberto Firmino | Liverpool | Brazil |
18 | Antoine Griezmann | Barcelona | France |
19 | Trent Alexander-Arnold | Liverpool | England |
T20 | Dusan Tadic | Ajax | Serbia |
T20 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Arsenal | Gabon |
22 | Heung-Min Son | Tottenham | South Korea |
23 | Hugo Lloris | Tottenham | France |
T24 | Marc-Andre ter Stegen | Barcelona | Germany |
T24 | Kalidou Koulibaly | Napoli | Senegal |
T26 | Georginio Wijnaldum | Liverpool | Netherlands |
T26 | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | France |
T28 | Donny van de Beek | Ajax | Netherlands |
T28 | Marquinhos | PSG | Brazil |
T28 | Joao Felix | Atletico Madrid | Portugal |
*Won the inaugural Yachine Trophy as the world's top goalkeeper
**Won the Kopa Trophy as the world's best under-21 player
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