Ballon d'Or 2021: Closer to glory; who is the top candidate?

It is worth remembering that for the 2020 edition, the magazine that awards the prize, France Football, decided not to present the award due to the pandemic that prevented the normal development of soccer. But for this 2021, things have returned to as much normality as possible, so we will see if Messi manages to take home his seventh trophy (and the second in a row) or we will have a new winner. 

When will the Ballon d’Or 2021 be awarded?

An exact date is not yet known when the magazine was released France Football will hold the ceremony for the Ballon d’Or. Based on the past few years, however, it can be assumed that the award will be presented in early to mid-December. Assuming the years 2018 and 2019, the Ballon d’Or was awarded on the first Monday in December. Puts France Football If this plan continued this year, the ceremony would take place on December 06, 2021 occur.

The 2020/21 soccer year came to an end with the finals of the Copa America and the European Championship, so it is time to start debating who will be the player to take home the Ballon d'Or. Usually the event is held at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris – a posh theater used mainly for operas and classical concerts.

History of the Ballon d'Or

Ballon d'Or is an award given annually by the French specialized magazine France Football,1 it is considered the highest individual honor at the soccer level in the world. 23 Given uninterruptedly since 1956, from 2009 it was merged with the counterpart FIFA World Player award to designate the best footballer until the two awards were separated again in 2016.

In 2020, because of the coronavirus, France Football decided not to present the award in this edition. Established in 1956 by the then director of the magazine and precursor of the European Cup, Gabriel Hanot, the award was initially aimed exclusively at players with a European nationality, the first winner being the Englishman Stanley Matthews, who in that year played for Blackpool Football Club.5 A jury made up exclusively of specialized journalists from the world's leading sports publications determines the winners of the award.

Until 1995, it was awarded to the best player registered each year in a European professional soccer championship and whose nationality was from a country in that zone, which is why it was also known as the Trophy for the European Footballer of the Year Abroad (in French, Trophée du footballeur européen de l'année à l'étranger) when it was established,6 although the name Ballon d'Or was soon adopted because of its image.