Thirty players received nominations for the Ballon d’Or, an annual soccer award given to the best male and female players around the globe. The 67th ceremony will happen in Paris, France, Monday, Oct. 30.
Around social media and the soccer world, many people have debated whether Lionel Messi or Erling Haaland will win the Ballon d’Or this year. I agree it should be one of the two, but let’s compare them.
At 23 years old, Haaland won the Union of European Football Association Champions League, the Premier League, the Football Association Challenge Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup. He has also taken home several individual honors, such as UEFA’s Men’s Player of the Year, Premier League Player of the Season, and the Golden Boot award.
On the other hand, Messi, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, won the World Cup, the ‘Golden Ball Award’ given to the World Cup’s best player, the Ligue 1 Championship, the French Super Cup, and was named FIFA’s Best Men’s Player
Haaland had a stellar first season at Manchester City, scoring the most goals in a single Premier League season with 36. Still, I think they’ll give the Ballon d’Or to Messi. Fans have called Messi FIFA’s golden boy. They even called him ‘Pessi’ for all of the penalties he was given at the World Cup, almost one for each game in the tournament.
As much as I love Messi, he does get a lot of favoritism. Winning a World Cup doesn’t mean he automatically deserves to win the Ballon d’Or. Still, he made many contributions to his national team and Paris Saint-German Football Club by scoring 37 goals and 25 assists in all competitions, including the World Cup, Champions League, and Ligue 1.
It also hurts Haaland’s case because his country of Norway didn’t qualify for the World Cup. I might have talked badly about Messi, but he had a positive outcome for himself this year. As much as Haaland deserves the Ballon d’Or, I think Messi will win.
I based my predictions on each European league’s 2022-23 season. For example, English football player Jude Bellingham received his nomination for his season with Germany’s Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, not his current season with La Liga’s Real Madrid in Spain.
The Ballon d’Or was created in 1956 by the French magazine France Football, given to FIFA’s best men’s player, the most prestigious individual award, with the first winner being Stanley Matthews of England’s Premier League club Blackpool.
Since then, it has been competitive, the most notable being the rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. It won’t happen this year because Ronaldo did not receive a nomination. Other legends include Dutch strikers Marco Van Basten and Johan Cruyff, as well as French midfielders Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane.
