This weekend he shot his way onto an exclusive list.
Now Viktor Gyökeres has once again reached new heights in his career — the star is awarded the Ballon d’Or.
– I don’t play in the Premier League like some others do, but I have done my absolute best where I am, he says.
It has been great days for Swedish Sporting Lisbon star Viktor Gyökeres.
With Sunday’s goal against Boavista — his 18th in the league this season — he now joins a small group of unique footballers. As the strike was his 61st of the calendar year, he became the eighth player of all time to achieve the 60-plus goal feat.
Unique list
Earlier in football history, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Pelé, Zico, Romário, Gerd Müller and Robert Lewandowski have had similar years.
The performance was arranged by Gyökeres the day after receiving the forward of the year award – which was the second year in a row that he had been awarded the award.
Last year, the striker’s prices stopped there.
This year he was awarded with another — the absolute biggest: the Gold Ball, the award for Sweden’s best male soccer player.
First Golden Ball
The 26-year-old settled for the award with national team mates Dejan Kulusevski — who received the award the last two times — and Alexander Isak and Isak Hien.
The justification:
“Viktor Gyökeres receives the Ballon d’Or for his efforts in club team Sporting CP and the national team. There is nothing more difficult in football than scoring goals and winning titles, and no one has made it look easier than Viktor Gyökeres. With hard work and unique qualities, he has has become an attacking leader for both the national team and Sporting, and a sought-after superstar in Europe.”
Gyökeres himself:
– I don’t play in the Premier League like some others do, but I have done my absolute best where I am. And I think I proved myself in Europe as well, in the Champions League. And with the national team. So it’s not “only” in Portugal, he tells Aftonbladet.
It is the first time in his career that Gyökeres has been awarded the prize.
Facts: Viktor Gyökeres
Born: 4 June 1998 (age 26) in Stockholm.
Position: striker.
Club: Sporting Lisbon.
Former clubs: IFK Aspudden-Tellus, Brommapojkarna, Brighton, St Pauli (loan), Swansea (loan), Coventry.
A international matches/goals: 26/15.
Facts: The Ballon d’Or – recent winners
The Golden Ball is awarded to the year’s best male player in Swedish football and has been awarded by the Swedish Football Association since 1946. In the years 1946–1965, the prize was awarded in collaboration with Stockholms-Tidningen, then in collaboration with Aftonbladet.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has received the most Golden Balls, a total of twelve during the period 2005–2020.
The most recent award winners:
2024: Viktor Gyökeres, Sporting Lisbon.
2023: Dejan Kulusevski, Tottenham.
2022: Dejan Kulusevski, Tottenham.
2021: Emil Forsberg, Leipzig.
2020: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Milan.
2019: Victor Nilsson Lindelöf, Manchester United.
2018: Victor Nilsson Lindelöf, Manchester United.
2017: Andreas Granqvist, Krasnodar.
2016: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paris Saint-Germain/Manchester United.
2015: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paris Saint-Germain.
2014: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paris Saint-Germain.