Why was there no Ballon d'Or in 2020, and why do 2019 and 2021 still divide opinion?

In 2020 there was no Ballon d'Or. Groupe Amaury, to which France Football belongs, decided that no award would be given for the year because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on football. Robert Lewandowski, who had won the treble with Bayern Munich and was named The Best FIFA Men's Player that year, was widely expected to win it. The cancellation was met with extensive criticism, as most news and sports organisations believed he was the front-runner and should have won.

Instead of the award, France Football organized a vote among 177 journalists from the world's leading media outlets to pick a "dream team", a symbolic team of the best players in football history.

The years on either side had their own arguments. In 2019 Lionel Messi won his sixth award, with Virgil van Dijk a very close second: Messi finished just seven points ahead. The edition was controversial in that many believed Messi was the rightful winner and many others believed van Dijk had been unfairly overlooked. Jürgen Klopp said he could not remember a more impressive season for a defender ever. Steven Gerrard, who called himself Messi's number one fan, said that a player who wins the European Cup and is faultless in every performance deserves the award.

In 2021 Messi won a record-extending seventh after captaining Argentina to the Copa América, its first senior title since 1993. Lewandowski finished second, 580 points to Messi's 613, after a record-setting 41-goal Bundesliga season. In his speech Messi told him: "You deserve your Ballon d'Or. Last year everyone agreed that you were the winner." Others questioned the result: Toni Kroos said Karim Benzema would have been his number one, and Iker Casillas wrote that it was increasingly difficult for him to believe in football awards.

Until 2021 the award was based on the calendar year; since 2022 jurors have been told to take the previous season into account.