5 legends who want Lionel Messi to win 2021 Ballon d'Or

#3 Gary Lineker (former player and current football pundit)

Gary Lineker has tipped Messi to win the 2021 Ballon d'Or award.

Gary Lineker has tipped Lionel Messi to win the 2021 Ballon d'Or award. Lineker was one of the top strikers of his generation and enjoyed a successful career for club and country.

Now a football pundit, Linekar recently spoke about Messi's chances of winning the Ballon d'Or award this year. He said:

"It will be difficult to overcome Messi. He had a great first part of the season, and then he won the Copa América with Argentina."

The former Barcelona striker could be right. Messi is tipped by many to win the 2021 Ballon d'Or award after his Copa America 2021 success.

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#2 Luis Suarez (former teammate of six-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi)

Luis Suarez has tipped his friend Messi as this year's Ballon d'Or winner.

Luis Suarez formed a fearsome attacking partnership with Lionel Messi at Barcelona. The duo, along with Neymar, won the continental treble in 2015, and scored goals for fun.

Now at Atletico Madrid, Suarez said that Messi has no rivals, considering his stellar achievements for club and country over the years. He said of Messi's 2021 Ballon d'Or credentials:

"For the Ballon d'Or, you should not only have to look at what someone has done in a year, but you also have to look at how someone is as a player. I believe that Messi has no rival."

It remains to be seen if voters think likewise on Monday when the fate of the 2021 Ballon d'Or award gets decided.

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#1 Samuel Eto'o (two-time continental treble winner)

Samuel Eto'o thinks Messi could win the 2021 Ballon d'Or award.

Samuel Eto'o enjoyed a short but highly successful stint with Lionel Messi in late 2000s, winning the continental treble in 2009. That summer, Eto'o left Camp Nou to join Inter Milan, where he won another continental treble.

In the process, the Cameroonian became the only player in history to win continental trebles with different clubs in successive years. The now-retired player enjoys an excellent relationship with Messi. He said to Marca about his former teammate's Ballon d'Or chances:

"Always Messi, who is like a little brother to me. I appreciate him very much as a person and as a player ... I watched him grow up, and I have a special love for him. For me, he is still the best in the world. If we remove Leo, there are others that I like, like Benzema. He is a player that I love. Cristiano has left and he has carried the equipment behind him."

Messi has indeed been one of the standout players in the game over the last two decades. He has scored goals and won accolades and titles galore. His Copa America 2021 triumph might just see him add another Ballon d'Or award to his burgeoning cabinet.