Megan Rapinoe continued her incredible 2019 by winning the Ballon d'Or Féminin award on Monday.
The US national team and Reign FC midfielder is the second woman all-time to win the award, after Ada Hegerberg took the debut honor in 2018. She is the first American of any gender to win the award.
Rapinoe, 34, led the USWNT to their second consecutive World Cup title this year, winning the tournament's Golden Boot as top scorer and Golden Ball as best player. She also helped Reign FC reach the NWSL playoffs and was an NWSL Second XI selection in 2019. In addition to winning the Ballon d'Or Féminin, Rapinoe also won FIFA's top individual prize, The Best FIFA Women's Player, this year.
The prestigious Ballon d'Or award, handed out by France Football, has historically been considered the top individual prize in the sport to the top male player in Europe, and since 2007, in the world. The 2019 men's Ballon d'Or prize went for a record sixth time to Barcelona's Lionel Messi, with Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo rounding out the top three.
To date, three Ballon d'Or winners have gone on to play in MLS. Lothar Matthaus won in 1990 after winning the World Cup with West Germany. He played for the MetroStars in 2000.
Hristo Stoichkov won the Ballon d'Or in 1994, after a shock run to the World Cup semifinal with Bulgaria. Stoichkov finished his career in MLS, playing for the Chicago Fire from 2000-02 and D.C. United in 2003, winning a U.S. Open Cup with Chicago.
And the third player to win the Ballon d'Or and play in MLS is Kaká in 2007, who won the Champions League with AC Milan that year and who went on to play for Orlando City from 2015-17.
Several other MLS players have finished in the top three in Ballon d'Or voting over the years: Matthaus was tied for second in 1991 and Stoichkov was second in 1992. On top of that, the original Designated Player, David Beckham, was 2nd in the voting in 1999, while Thierry Henry reached the podium twice, second in 2003 and third in 2006. The top English midfielders of their generation, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, both finished in the top three in the same year, 2005, with Lampard second and Gerrard third.
