Robert Lewandowski has won FIFA Best Men’s Player for 2020 ahead of football greats, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
He topped the three-man shortlist with 58 votes ahead of Ronaldo’s 38 votes and Messi’s 35 votes. This is by far the biggest award in his career.
The 32-year-old helped his team, Bayern Munich to a historic treble, winning the Uefa Champions League, Bundesliga and DFB Pokal. He ended last season on a high, scoring 55 goals in 47 appearances and he was the top scorer in all three competitions they won.
The Poland striker joins Luka Modric of Real Madrid and Croatia who won in 2018 after a stellar performance for his club and country, as the only players in the past 13 years to claim the award other than Ronaldo and Messi.
The voting was by a global jury of national team captains, coaches, including selected journalists and fans. Although the ceremony was held virtually in Zurich, Switzerland, FIFA president, Gianni Infantino went to Munich to present the trophy to the Poland Captain in person.
Lewandowski said in a statement: “I feel fantastic, I am very proud and happy to be honest, this is a great day for me, and also for my club and colleagues. This award also belongs to my colleagues, the coach and Bayern Munich in general. It is an incredible feeling, a lot of emotions.”
“If you win such an award and share that title with Messi and Ronaldo, that is unbelievable and it means so much to me. A long time ago, I remember I was longing for something like this and now I can win such an award. This really means, regardless of where you come form, all that matters is what you put into it,” he added.
What you should know: The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 was held on Thursday, 17 December. The ceremony was held virtually in Zurich due to the Covid-19 pandemic.