🏆 Ballon d'OneFootball: And in 5th place is ... | OneFootball

Welcome to the third annual edition of the Ballon d’OneFootball as we continue our countdown of the top 25 players in the world.

Click right here to see the full list so far.

And today we have …

5th: Lionel Messi, PSG and Argentina

(Last year: 2nd)

Even after more than seven months, it is still strange to see Messi’s name with the words PSG following it.

What isn’t so unusual to see is the Argentine once again occupying the upper echelons of our ranking of the world’s best players.

An adjustment period to a new life, culture and league was always to be expected after he departed the only footballing environment he had ever known after two decades in a shock exit last summer.

And while there have been some critics of Messi’s adaptation to life in Ligue 1, he remains one of the game’s elite.

In the glare of fierce scrutiny in the French capital, nobody has provided more assists in the league this season than the 34-year-old, even if his goalscoring has slowed down a little (five in the Champions League and two in Ligue 1).

That wasn’t the case in the first half of last year when he almost single-handedly dragged Barcelona to a third place finish with his exploits in front of goal.

And those who, for whatever odd reason, used Argentina’s silverware failures during his career for his country as a stick to beat him with were also silenced last summer as he finally delivered the trophy he craved by leading the Albiceleste to the Copa América.

His role in that triumph combined with his 40-goal haul for the year saw Messi honoured with the Ballon d’Or for a record seventh time, a contentious decision for some – if not for the man himself.

“I don’t know if it is a record that will ever be broken and it’s certainly something impressive,” he said after his latest triumph. “I think I got this trophy for what I did with Argentina.

“After struggling for years and falling frequently, I finally made it.”

That’s not all he did in his country’s colours too, recently overtaking Pelé’s international goals record with a sublime hat-trick against Bolivia to become South America’s all-time leading male scorer.

Proving himself out of his comfort zone, delivering success for Argentina. There are no worlds left for Messi to conquer.

Click right here to see the full list so far.