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The prestigious Ballon d'Or award returned in 2021 after a year-long hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina forward Lionel Messi claimed a seventh crown, with Robert Lewandowski finishing in second and Jorginho in third place.
Messi was impressive for club and country in 2021, with his performance earning him the Player of the Tournament award at the Copa America. Argentina won the Copa America largely due to Messi's contribution, and that was enough to include him among the nominees for the Ballon d'Or this year.
He also led Barcelona to the Copa del Rey title, and led the Spanish La Liga in goals scored.
Ballon d'Or rankings always stir up interesting debates
Not everyone was pleased with the standings of the top 30 players in the world, and here are five players who probably did not deserve their rankings:
#5 Raheem Sterling
Manchester City and England forward Raheem Sterling finished in 15th place in this year's Ballon d'Or rankings. He scored 14 goals and contributed 12 assists for Manchester City in 49 appearances in all competitions last season, and netted three goals in Euro 2020.
Sterling was ranked higher than England team-mate and captain Harry Kane, who led the English Premier League in goals and assists in 2020-21. Sterling has not been at his best recently, with his tally of 14 goals last season his lowest since 2016-17, Pep Guardiola's first season in charge of the club.
Sterling did win the Premier League and finished as runner-up in the Champions League and Euro 2020 final. However, purely based on individual performance, he did not deserve to be ranked 15th ahead of Harry Kane, Bruno Fernandes or Ruben Dias.
#4 Leonardo Bonucci
Juventus' defensive stalwart Leonardo Bonucci finished in 12th place in the Ballon d'Or rankings after a productive year at Euro 2020 with Italy. The experienced defender was a part of the water-tight Italian defense that helped them win their first international tournament since 2006.
Despite having a poor season at club level with Juventus, Bonucci was deemed to have been the second best defender in the world ahead of Manchester City's Ruben Dias.
Bonucci was only behind team-mate Giorgio Chiellini among defenders in the rankings, a far cry from the reality of the past year. A fine defender, no doubt, but Bonucci should not have been ranked so high based on just one tournament.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo
Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo finished in sixth place in the 2021 rankings, his first finish outside the top five in over a decade. Ronaldo last won the prestigious honor in 2017, losing out on each of the last three editions of the award.
Ronaldo led Serie A in goalscoring as Juventus missed out on the league title for the first time in almost a decade. The influential forward moved to Manchester United in the summer and has hit the ground running, but deserves to finish lower than sixth in the rankings.
Ronaldo finished ahead of Liverpool ace Mohamed Salah and Kylian Mbappe, both of whom have had arguably a better year than he has. Mbappe scored 42 times for PSG in 2020-21 and led the French national team to UEFA Nations League glory. Salah scored 31 times last season and has scored 17 times already this season for Liverpool.
Cristiano Ronaldo remains one of the greatest of all time and recently became the leading goalscorer in men's international football. However, he could probably consider himself lucky to have pipped Salah and Mbappe in the 2021 Ballon d'Or rankings.
#2 Lautaro Martinez
Argentine striker Lautaro Martinez was instrumental for Internazionale as they won their first Scudetto in a decade. The 24-year-old striker scored 19 times and made 11 assists in all competitions for Inter, forming a deadly partnership with Romelu Lukaku.
Martinez also contributed three goals in six appearances in the Copa America for a victorious Argentina side.
The striker finished in 21st place in the Ballon d'Or rankings, ahead of Harry Kane and Gérard Moreno, both of whom outscored him by a fair amount of goals.
By virtue of the numbers he produced, Martinez should have finished lower than 21st in the rankings for this year's Ballon d'Or. It is, after all, an individual award.
#1 Simon Kjaer
Denmark captain Simon Kjaer finished in 18th place in the Ballon d'Or standings, comfortably ahead of several other top class players. The AC Milan man was named on the shortlist for his quick thinking and intervention in Denmark's first group stage game at Euro 2020 against Finland.
The defender was the first on the scene after midfielder Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest in the first half. Kjaer rushed down to where Eriksen lay and promptly prevented him from swallowing his tongue, saving his life in the process.
While this act of nobility and kindness is laudable, it does not warrant Kjaer ranking as high as 18th in the world in the Ballon d'Or rankings. We respect Kjaer and he will always have a special place in all our hearts, but is he seriously the 18th best player in the world right now?
Perhaps a separate one-off award would have been the ideal fix to honor his bravado.
