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Until Lionel Messi came along, no player had won the Ballon d’Or – football’s most prestigious individual accolade – on more than three occasions.
Now, the Argentine icon has further cemented his status as (probably) the greatest of all time by picking up the prize for an incredible eighth time.
Taking in spells at Barcelona, PSG and Inter Miami, here’s the rundown of every one of Messi’s Ballon d’Or triumphs…
2009
December 1, 2009: the Black Eyed Peas had just been knocked off top spot in the UK Single Chart by a bunch of X Factor finalists; Barack Obama was less than a year into his first term as President; and Lionel Messi was collecting his first Ballon d’Or.
The 2008/09 season had seen Messi break the 30-goal barrier for the first time and win his second Champions League with Barcelona – but this was just the beginning of his Ballon d’Or love affair.
2010
In 2010, Messi became the first player since Marco van Basten in 1989 to retain the Ballon d’Or – and he did it after an even more prolific goalscoring season for Barcelona.
La Pulga (The Flea) found the net 47 times in all competitions over the course of the 2009/10 campaign, starring as Pep Guardiola’s Barca claimed their second straight La Liga title.
2011
The following year, it was time to equal another record, as Messi joined French great Michel Platini as the only other player to scoop the Ballon d’Or three years running (and became one of just four – along with Platini, Van Basten and Johan Cruyff – to pick up the award three times overall).
A La Liga and Champions League winner in 2011, Messi took his goalscoring prowess to yet greater heights by registering 53 times during the 2010/11 season.
2012
Four Ballon d’Or wins in a row? Why not! In 2012, Messi made history by becoming the first four-time recipient of the gong – just eight years after making his professional debut.
And 2012 was an historic year for the Argentine for another reason: he bagged an astonishing 91 goals across the calendar year – 79 for Barcelona and 12 for his country – which was recognised as a Guinness World Record.
2015
After seeing Cristiano Ronaldo triumph in 2013 and 2014, Messi got his hands back on the Ballon d’Or in 2015 – a year in which he picked up his fourth and, to date, most recent Champions League winners medal.
Barcelona did the treble of Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey in 2014/15 under Luis Enrique, with their main man getting on the scoresheet 58 times altogether.
2019
After three years without getting his hands on the trophy – his longest drought since first winning it – 2019 saw Messi take home the Ballon d’Or for the sixth time.
It came at the end of a year in which he won his 10th and final La Liga title with Barcelona – and it proved to be his last Ballon d’Or as a Barca player: he would leave to join PSG just over 18 months later.
2021
The year 2021 was one of great change for Messi: for the first time since 2000, he was not associated with Barcelona – having signed for PSG as a free agent ahead of the 2020/21 season.
His first campaign with the Ligue 1 giants proved to be rather underwhelming – but he finally got his hands on international silverware, captaining Argentina to the 2021 Copa America, where they beat hosts Brazil in the final.
2023
From the moment Gonzalo Montiel dispatched Argentina’s winning penalty in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, it was obvious that Messi would receive the 2023 Ballon d’Or – having played an all-time great tournament to inspire his nation to glory as captain, scoring in every round and picking up the Golden Ball as player of the tournament.
It didn’t really matter what he did between then and now (heading to MLS to join Inter Miami was the main thing, of course); he had finally got his hands on the ultimate trophy, and that as good as guaranteed Ballon d’Or number eight.
