Messi becomes the first player to win the award on six occasions, having been tied with Ronaldo on five.
The Argentine and the Portuguese dominated the Ballon d’Or for a decade between 2008 and 2017, winning five apiece in that time.
“I would like to thank all the journalists who have voted for me, who wanted me to win this prize, “Thank you so much to my colleagues from the club, and all my colleagues who have contributed a lot for this prize. It’s really amazing.” Messi said.
Ballon d’Or – Top 10
10 – Riyad Mahrez (Man City)
9 – Bernardo Silva (Man City)
8 – Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
7 – Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
6 – Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
5 – Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
4 – Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
3 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
2 – Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
1 – Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
