Where Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool and Man City stars finished in final Ballon d’Or rankings

Phil Foden, Romelu Lukaku and Bruno Fernandes were all nominated for the Ballon d'Or award — Phil Foden, Romelu Lukaku and Bruno Fernandes were all nominated (Pictures: Getty)

While Lionel Messi celebrated a seventh Ballon d’Or in Paris on Monday night, there was disappointment for a host of players who were hoping to beat the Argentine superstar to the award.

PSG forward Messi took home the prize for a record seventh time after helping his country win the Copa America and scoring 28 goals for his former club Barcelona.

Bayern Munich and Poland striker Robert Lewandowski came second and Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorginho came third.

Real Madrid and France forward Karim Benzema finished fourth ahead of fifth-placed N’Golo Kante, who helped Chelsea win the Champions League last season along with Jorginho.

Manchester United hero Cristiano Ronaldo was sixth, ahead of in-form Liverpool and Egypt superstar Mohamed Salah in seventh.

Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne and Paris Saint-Germain duo Kylian Mbappe and Gianluigi Donnarumma completed the top ten.

Premier League leaders Chelsea had four players in the 30-strong shortlist and Romelu Lukaku came 12th, Mason Mount 19th and Cesar Azpilicueta 29th.

Ballon d’Or final rankings

T29 – Luka Modric, Cesar Azpilicueta

T26 – Gerard Moreno, Nicolo Barella, Ruben Dias

25 – Phil Foden

24 – Pedri

23 – Harry Kane

21 – Lautaro Martinez, Bruno Fernandes

20 – Riyad Mahrez

19 – Mason Mount

18 – Simon Kjaer

17 – Luis Suarez

16 – Neymar

15 – Raheem Sterling

14 – Leonardo Bonucci

13 – Giorgio Chiellini

12 – Romelu Lukaku

11 – Erling Haaland

10 – Gianluigi Donnarumma

9 – Kylian Mbappe

8 – Kevin de Bruyne

7 – Mohamed Salah

6 – Cristiano Ronaldo

5 – N’Golo Kante

4 – Karim Benzema

3 – Jorginho

2 – Robert Lewandowski

1 – Lionel Messi

After winning French Football’s Ballon d’Or award, Messi said: ‘I’m really proud to win the France Football Ballon d’Or once again. It’s incredible to win it for the seventh time.

‘I would like to thank my family, my friends and all the people who follow me and always support me, because without them I couldn’t have done it.’

PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi added: ‘I would like to warmly congratulate Leo.

‘The club is immensely proud that one of our players has won this most prestigious and coveted title.

‘Leo is making football history once again. Along with all our supporters around the world, we are delighted to be able to enjoy one of most iconic footballers of all time in the Rouge & Bleu shirt.’

More to follow…