Wednesday, November 17, 2021 at 5:12 PM• Last update: 17:29

Lionel Messi and Alexia Putellas have seized the GOAL50 awards for best footballer and best football player of the year. In a nerve-racking neck-and-neck race, Messi managed to beat Cristiano Ronaldo by only 24 (!) votes; Barcelona midfielder Putellas left her teammate Irene Paredes far behind. The vote was the largest ever in GOAL50 history with 24 million total votes.

Messi seized the Copa América with Argentina this calendar year, his first top prize with the national team. Ronaldo, among other things, crowned himself top scorer of all European Championships and World Cups together and the complete international football, but barely has to lose out to his colleague. The result puts Messi and Ronaldo on a par in GOAL50 wins, with both taking the title five times to date.

For the first time this year, the election took place according to a unique knock-out system. Instead of voting for one player as the best footballer or star, two players were always pitted against each other. It was then up to the voter to determine which of them was preferred. Messi claimed 50.1 percent of the vote against Ronaldo in the final round; a round earlier, he beat Robert Lewandowski with 53.3 percent to 46.7 percent. In total, fourteen million votes were cast for the male branch.

Putellas scored 25 goals in all competitions last season and won the treble with the women’s team of Barcelona. She also managed to find the net in the final of the Women’s Champions League. Paredes, defender on that same team, managed to win all her confrontations in the GOAL50 awards, until she finally broke down on her teammate. Lieke Martens had to give up the fight a lap before and finished fourth. The female branch eventually counted ten million votes.