Goal 50 Award
Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski and Chelsea’s Pernille Harder have topped the 13th annual Goal 50 list and been named the best players in the world.
Goal 50 is an annual award and list by global football publisher Goal and is made up of the top 25 male players, alongside the list of top 25 female players, which together make up the Goal 50.
Goal 50 is voted on by Goal’s global network of hundreds of journalists, correspondents and editors and is based on players’ performances over the past 12 months.
Speaking exclusively to Goal, Lewandowski said: “It feels very good – if you win an individual title, that’s another nice extra. Football is a team sport, but these additional awards mean a lot to me too. It shows that the hard work you put in every day will one day pay off.
“As long as you play football, you have to stay hungry. After your career you can think about what you have won. Getting to the top is difficult, but staying at the top is even more difficult.”
A full video interview with Lewandowski will be published on Goal on November 11.
Lewandowski’s place at the top of the Goal 50 list is influenced by him scoring 55 goals in 47 games during Bayern Munich’s treble-winning campaign, finishing as top scorer in the Bundesliga, the DFB- Pokal and the Champions League.
Behind Lewandowski on the men’s list are Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne (2nd), Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (3rd), Paris Saint-Germain’s Neymar (4th), and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo (5th).
Female player of the year
Harder’s 2020 Goal 50 award is her second in four years, following her being named the best female player of the year by Goal in 2017.
More recently, the Dane scored 27 goals in 21 league games for Wolfsburg, nine goals in seven Champions League outings and added another two to her season’s tally in the German cup.
Harder collected winners’ medals in two of those competitions, doing the league and cup double in Germany for the fourth season running, while finishing as a runner-up in Europe.
Harder left Wolfsburg for Chelsea at the end of last season.
Speaking exclusively to Goal, Harder said: “It is always nice to get these individual awards. It tells me that what I am doing is the right thing and I am going in the right way.
“Of course, to win these awards is all about the team and teammates. I had some amazing teammates in Wolfsburg and I had an amazing time there.”
A full video interview with Harder will be published on Goal on Thursday November 12.
Behind Harder on 2020’s list are Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema (2nd), Lucy Bronze (3rd) who left Lyon for Man City in the summer, and Dzsenifer Marozsan (4th) and Wendie Renard (5th) of Lyon.
