Argentina's Lionel Messi during the warm up before the match
Lionel Messi has stated that he had no plans to retire from international duty in the foreseeable future (Photo: Ammar Awad/Reuters)

We are supposed to wait until Dec. 2 to know who is this year's winner of Ballon d'Or. However, a Spanish press claims that Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has been told that he has won his sixth Ballon d'Or this year. The report also further discloses that France Football journalists visited Barcelona to inform the Argentine football legend of his award.

Spanish press Mundo Deportivo recently claims that Barcelona and Argentina captain Lionel Messi is set to win a record sixth Ballon d'Or award. The 32 years old football legend has already been informed of his win even though the official awarding ceremony is scheduled on Monday, Dec. 2. Messi is currently the second odds-on favorite trailing behind Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk.

The Spanish newspaper believes that they already know the answer to the yearly question of who is going to take home the gong. According to Mundo Deportivo, all indications are there, and Lionel Messi will almost definitely overshadow Cristiano Ronaldo. In finding the Ballon d'Or winner, 182 journalists cast their secret votes and were computed on Nov. 9, 2019.

Rumors have it that the decision is made some time ahead of the ceremony and claimed that the winner is already notified ahead. Journalists are tasked to vote for the winner based on both their team and individual performances, fair play, talent, and international careers.

Lionel Messi is on the three-man shortlist for this year's award along with Juventus' captain Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk. The five-time FIFA world player of the year won 10th La Liga title last term with 36 goals and 13 assists in 36 top-flight outings under Ernesto Valverde. Liverpool's Van Dijk, who has recently won this year's UEFA player of the year award, is a strong candidate in stealing the Ballon d'Or this year from Messi and Ronaldo.

The defender helped Liverpool win the Champions League. Liverpool's boss Jurgen Klopp recently said that if the Ballon d'Or is about the best player last season the ward should be given to Virgil van Dijk. However, the German manager stated that if the award is for the best player of all time, it should be given to Barca's Lionel Messi. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo's goalscoring derring-dos continues since he transferred to Juventus where he won Serie A in the previous season.


Virgil van Dijk is currently the top odds-on favorite with Cristiano Ronaldo on the distant third after Lionel Messi. Meanwhile, Messi shared on his Instagram account his documentary titled "Becoming Leo Messi."