Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi was crowned the winner of the 2019 Ballon d'Or after beating Liverpool's Netherlands centre-back Virgil van Dijk and long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 32-year-old forward has now won a record sixth men's Ballon d'Or award, and this will be his first since 2015 as he moves one ahead of rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who finished third in the voting.
Since George Weah in 2005 no African has won the most coveted football prize, only a few came close, Samuel Eto'o who came 10th in 2005, improved four places to 6th in 2006 while playing for FC Barcelona, missed out of the top 10 in 2007 but came back well and so close in 2005 where he claimed 5th spot. His last appearance on the list was in 2011 when he was ranked in 8th place
Another African who has also pushed for the award is Ivorian Dedier Drogba who made his debut on the list by coming 4th in 2007 before the twilight of his career where he was voted in 9th place in 2009 and 2010.
Other Africans like Salah who has been one of the most consistent African footballers in recent time, winning the African footballer of the year was ranked 6th best player in the world in 2018.
For the first time in the history of the BallonDor, Africa has three players in the top ten of the men's category. The only time this feat happened was in 2009 where 5th Eto (5th) & Drogba (9th) featured in the top 10. The men who made the continent proud are Sadio Mane (4th), Mohamed Salah (5th) and Riyad Mahrez (10th). If this consistency continues, an African will be crowned world best in the nearest future.
Full List
(1) Lionel Messi
(2) Virgil van Dijk
(3) Cristiano Ronaldo
(4) Sadio Mané
(5) Mohamed Salah
(6) Kylian Mbappé
(7) Alisson Becker
(8) Robert Lewandowski
(9) Bernardo Silva
(10) Riyad Mahrez
