It’s the big night. The official 2021 Golden Ball award ceremony can be followed on Monday, November 29 from 8:30 p.m. to Châtelet theater in Paris. The contenders will finally know who will win the votes of the 180 jurors and leave with the prestigious trophy for the best player of the year.
Polish international Robert Lewandowski, who breaks all goalscoring records with Bayern Munich, is among the favorites to win the trophy, as is Argentinian Lionel Messi, who won the Copa America this summer and already six times Golden Ball. . The names of Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappé and Cristiano Ronaldo are also mentioned.
The first 20 nominees unveiled
The first twenty names, players ranked from 30th to 11th, were gradually revealed in the afternoon. Neymar, one of the representatives of PSG, is 16th. Mason Mount, winner of the Champions League with Chelsea, is 19th. Defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, European champions with Italy, are 14th and 13th respectively.
Three French in the top 10
Kylian Mbappé, Karim Benzema and N’golo Kanté, the three Frenchmen named in the list of 30 finalists, will all be ranked in the top 10. They are accompanied by European champion Jorginho, two PSG players Lionel Messi and Gianluigi Donnarumma , as well as Kevin De Bruyne, Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah.
Pedri wins the Raymond Kopa trophy
The FC Barcelona midfielder, also Olympic medalist in Tokyo this summer, wins the title of best youngster under 21. He succeeds Maties de Ligt, crowned in 2019, and ahead of Mason Greenwood, Bukayo Saka, or Jamal Musiala.