SoccLast Monday, France Football brought back its yearly tradition of the Ballon D’or.

The Ballon D’or is a trophy in the form a golden soccer ball, given to the best male and female soccer player in the world. Because of the pandemic, France Football, the event organizer, decided to cancel last year’s ceremony and awards, which caused this year’s event to be controversial.

On Nov. 29, Lionel Messi won the award for the seventh time in his career. The controversy stemmed from the fact that many fans believed that Robert Lewandowski, who many believe was the best player last year, deserved to win the award this year.

“I believe that Lewandowski should’ve won the Ballon D’or because I don’t think it’s fair that he doesn’t have the trophy from last year placed on his shelves at his house. He is the world’s top goal scorer this year, and I believe he should be recognized and be given the reward he deserves,” said sophomore Lorenzo Jaime.

Even though some fans believe that Lewandowski should have won, many were adamant that Messi deserved the recognition.

“I’m Argentinian myself and I believe Messi was the right winner. He could have not been the top goalscorer but he’s the player that had the most assists, most chances created, most shots on goal, etc, etc. It is also good that he won because it proves that he’s the real GOAT because Messi now has 7 Ballon D’ors and Cristiano Ronaldo has 5,” said sophomore Felix Montesano.

This year’s top 3 in the ranking of the reward were Messi, Lewandowski and Jorginho, who many people believed should’ve been ranked lower.

“I understand how people think that he doesn’t deserve to be ranked third, but I’m a Chelsea fan and I watch all of Chelsea’s games. He might not be as participative in goals but he’s always there to cover other players and steal balls. He also won many trophies this year such as the Champions League, UEFA Supercup and helped Italy win the EUROS. Besides these teams’ trophies, UEFA named him the men’s best player in the world,” said sophomore Sebastian Ulloa.

This was the first year since 2010 that Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t in the top 3 of the award, which caught many people by surprise.

“I honestly can’t comprehend that Ronaldo was placed 6th in the Ballon D’or ranking. I’m from Portugal and in my opinion Ronaldo is a leader on and off the pitch. I understand how people believe that he shouldn’t have won, but he should’ve definitely stayed in the top 3,” said sophomore Diego Cruz.

When Messi gave out his speech while he received the trophy, he mentioned that France Football should give Lewandowski a trophy for last year because he was the clear winner to all the people including Messi.