Messi won the Ballon d’Or for the eighth time, while Putellas is crowned women’s champion.

PARIS – Lionel Messi conceded that Argentina’s Copa America victory may have been the deciding factor in his winning the men’s Ballon d’Or for the seventh time following a tumultuous year, while Spain’s Alexia Putellas earned the women’s award.

Messi, now 34, beat off much-fancied competitors such as Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema to win the trophy on Monday in Paris, the city he now calls home after leaving hometown club Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in August.

Despite his emotional departure from Barcelona and his disappointing start to life in France, the panel of journalists from across the world honoured him for leading Argentina to their first major international trophy since 1993.

“Two years ago, I believed I was entering my last years, but here I am again,” remarked Messi, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2019 before the honours were cancelled because of the epidemic.

Messi also took home the trophy in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015.

“People started asking me when I was going to retire, but now I’m here in Paris and I’m very pleased,” he remarked at the Chatelet Theatre in downtown Paris, where he was accompanied by his wife Antonella Roccuzzo and their three children.

“I’m not sure how many years I have left, but I hope there are many since I’m having a great time this year.”