Robert Lewandowski will get one final chance to cement his claim as the best striker of his generation at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Barcelona star may be in the twilight of his career but is still as prolific as ever, having raced clear in the LaLiga scoring charts.
The 34-year-old made the switch to the Camp Nou last summer, having scored an incredible 344 goals in 375 matches at Bayern Munich.
And now Lewandowski has the chance to make his mark on the international stage as well in what will likely be his final World Cup.
Has Lewandowski won the Ballon d’Or?
Famously, the Poland captain has never won FIFA’s most illustrious individual prize – with a second placed finish in 2021 his best result.
Lewandowski appeared a shoe-in to claim the 2020 Ballon d’Or prize after spearheading Bayern’s treble-winning success.
Yet the coveted golden ball was scrapped following the outbreak of the pandemic and a winner was never named.
Even 2021 Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi claimed Lewandowski should have one of his own but the Pole is still without.
But the man himself seems to be unbothered about the snub, claiming the FIFA Best Player award he won in January ‘matters more’.
“I’ve been thinking about these two awards lately – FIFA Best Player and the Ballon d’Or,” Lewandowski told Pilka Nozna.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that the FIFA award does matter more. Only journalists vote in the latter – there’s no clear verification.”
How many goals has he scored for Poland?
Lewandowski made his senior Poland debut back in 2008, two years before he made the move from Lech Poznan to Borussia Dortmund.
He holds a number of accolades with his national team – most notably, the record as Poland’s all-time top scorer with 76 goals.
However, NONE of these have come at a World Cup, with Lewandowski’s sole appearance at the tournament coming in 2018 in which he blanked in all three group-stage games.
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