Lionel Messi wins record seventh Ballon d'Or

Argentina's Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world for a record-stretching seventh time on Monday, beating Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho to lift soccer's most prestigious trophy yet again.

Ballon d'Or is an annual award, presented by the French magazine France Football, regarded as the most prestigious individual honour in the sport.

Messi won the last edition of the Ballon d'Or in 2019 before last year's awards were cancelled due to the pandemic.

"It's incredible to be here again. Two years ago I thought it was the last time. Winning the Copa America was key", Messi said at Paris's Theatre du Chatelet.

The forward added to his 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019 trophies after winning the Copa America for the first time with his country last July.

That was the first major international title of his glittering career, which had been spent entirely with Barcelona before his tearful departure from the Camp Nou in August and subsequent move to Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi has played just 11 games for PSG so far, scoring four goals, but he was rewarded as much as anything for his continued brilliance down the years.

He has now won the Ballon d'Or twice more than his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo -- between them they have won 12 of the last 13 editions with the exception coming in 2018 when Luka Modric claimed the prize.

Prolific Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski finished second and Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorginho was third in the voting by a jury of journalists from around the world.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, came in sixth.

List of winners from the 2021 Ballon d'Or ceremony in Paris on Monday:

Men's Ballon d'Or top 10

1. Lionel Messi (ARG/Barcelona)

2. Robert Lewandowski (POL/Bayern Munich)

3. Jorginho (ITA/Chelsea)

4. Karim Benzema (FRA/Real Madrid)

5. N'Golo Kante (FRA/Chelsea)

6. Cristiano Ronaldo (POR/Juventus - Manchester United)

7. Mohamed Salah (EGY/Liverpool)

8. Kevin De Bruyne (BEL/Manchester City)

9. Kylian Mbappe (FRA/Paris SG)

10. Gianluigi Donnarumma (ITA/AC Milan - Paris SG)

Women's Ballon d'Or top 10

1. Alexia Putellas (ESP/Barcelona)

2. Jennifer Hermoso (ESP/Barcelona)

3. Sam Kerr (AUS/Chelsea)

4. Vivianne Miedema (NED/Arsenal)

5. Lieke Martens(NED/Barcelona)

6. Christine Sinclair (CAN/Portland Storms)

7. Pernille Harder (DAN/Chelsea)

8. Ashley Lawrence (CAN/Paris SG)

9. Jessie Fleming (CAN/Chelsea)

10. Fran Kirby (ENG/Chelsea)