The 2021 Ballon d'Or (French: ''Ballon d'Or'') was the 65th annual ceremony of the

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Pl ...

, presented by

France Football ''France Football'' is a French weekly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclusi ...

, and recognising the best footballers in the world in 2021. The nominees for the ceremony were announced on 8 October 2021. Right before the ceremony, France Football announced that along with the Men's and Women's Ballon d'Or, Kopa Trophy and

Yashin Trophy The Yashin Trophy is an association football award presented annually by ''France Football'' to the best performing goalkeeper. The award is named former Soviet Union goalkeeper Lev Yashin, and the winner is selected by former Ballon d'Or ...

, two new awards would be given: the Best Club and Best Striker of the Year.

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

won the award for a record-extending seventh time after captaining Argentina to the 2021 Copa America, its first senior international title since 1993.

Robert Lewandowski Robert Lewandowski (; born 21 August 1988) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Barcelona and captains the Poland national team. Recognised for his positioning, technique and finishing, Lewandowski is co ...

finished second following his record-setting 41-goal season in the

2020–21 Bundesliga The 2020–21 Bundesliga was the 58th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. It began on 18 September 2020 and concluded on 22 May 2021. The season was originally scheduled to begin on 21 August 2020 and conclude on 15 ...

campaign, and Jorginho finished third after contributing to

2020–21 UEFA Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League was the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea defea ...

and

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

titles.

Ballon d'Or

The nominees for the awards were announced on 8 October 2021.

Ballon d'Or Féminin

The shortlist for the awards were announced on 8 October 2021.

Kopa Trophy

The nominees for the awards were announced on 8 October 2021.

Yashin Trophy

The nominees for the awards were announced on 8 October 2021.

Striker of the Year

Club of the Year

References

{{Yashin Trophy

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...