What is Goal 50? Previous winners & everything you need to know

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What is Goal 50? Previous winners & everything you need to know image

The 2020 Goal 50 winners were unveiled on Tuesday November 10, 2020 as the best players in the world had their achievements recognised.

If you're wondering what the Goal 50 is, Goal brings you all the past winners and everything you need to know.

What is the Goal 50?

Virgil van Dijk Goal 50

Goal 50 is an annual award presented by Goal which ranks the 50 best footballers in the world over the previous 12 months.

For 2019, the Goal 50 was split into the top 25 footballers in the men's game and the top 25 footballers in the women's game.

Editors and correspondents from Goal's editions across the world cast their votes, making it a truly global ballot.

Players are judged on their level of consistency during the course of the year, individual big-game performances and their contribution to the team effort.

Games at both club and international level are taken into consideration.

Previous Goal 50 winners

Cristiano Ronaldo Goal 50 award

Ronaldo is the most successful player in the history of Goal 50, coming out on top of the pile five times, with Messi taking the ultimate prize on four occasions.

Former Inter star Wesley Sneijder, Croatia captain Modric and Liverpool defender Van Dijk are the only players outside of the aforementioned duo to win men's Goal 50 since its inception.

U.S. women's national team hero Megan Rapinoe was the first female recipient of the award when she won it in 2019.

Previous Goal 50 winners

Year 1st 2nd 3rd
2008 Cristiano Ronaldo Lionel Messi Fernando Torres
2009 Lionel Messi Andres Iniesta Xavi
2010 Wesley Sneijder Lionel Messi Xavi
2011 Lionel Messi Cristiano Ronaldo Xavi
2012 Cristiano Ronaldo Iker Casillas Lionel Messi
2013 Lionel Messi Franck Ribery Cristiano Ronaldo
2014 Cristiano Ronaldo Arjen Robben Lionel Messi
2015 Lionel Messi Cristiano Ronaldo Luis Suarez
2016 Cristiano Ronaldo Luis Suarez Antoine Griezmann
2017 Cristiano Ronaldo Gianluigi Buffon Luka Modric
2018 Luka Modric Cristiano Ronaldo Mohamed Salah
2019 Virgil van Dijk Lionel Messi Mohamed Salah
2019 Megan Rapinoe Lucy Bronze Sam Kerr
2020 Robert Lewandowski Kevin De Bruyne Lionel Messi
2020 Pernille Harder Vivianne Miedema Lucy Bronze

Van Dijk became the first ever defender to win the Goal 50 when he was crowned in 2019, beating competition from Messi and Mohamed Salah.

Other players who have been in the top three include Fernando Torres, Xavi, Luis Suarez, Arjen Robben Antoine Griezmann and Gianluigi Buffon.

Robert Lewandowski was handed the Goal 50 in 2020 after his starring role in helping Bayern win the treble, which included a historic sixth Champions League trophy.

He beat Kevin De Bruyne and Lionel Messi to first place, with Pernille Harder being crowned the women's winner.

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