Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) won the eighth Ballon d’Or of his career this Monday, beating the competition, Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) and Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), who completed: In this order the batch of the first four.
The 36-year-old Argentina international’s main asset was winning the World Cup in Qatar last December, where he was the hero of his country’s team and considered the figure of the tournament (with seven goals and three assists) . In addition, he also won the French League and the French Super Cup, despite a somewhat mediocre season with PSG, which culminated in his departure in the summer to Inter Miami in the United States.
The main competitor in this race, Haaland, had as main arguments winning the treble last season with Manchester City, winning the English Championship, the FA Cup and the Champions League in the same season. Titles to which he contributes goals. And there were a lot of them – last season he scored 52 goals in 53 games.
This is the eighth Ballon d’Or for the Argentine player, after victories in the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021 editions. Ronaldo is the second footballer with the most trophies, winning in 2008, 2013, 2014 , 2016 and 2017. It would be a debut for the Norwegian attacker, after only Modric (2018) and Benzema (2022) managed to break the hegemony of Messi and Ronaldo in recent years.
Bernardo Silva 9th best in the world
In the top 10 of the Ballon d’Or ranking there was room for a Portuguese, Bernardo Silva, who finished in 9th place, repeating the 2019 ranking.
In addition to Messi, Haaland and Mbappé, they hired Portuguese midfielder Rodri (Manchester City), Vinicius Jr. (Real Madrid), Julian Alvarez (Manchester City) and Victor Osimhen (Naples) ahead. Luka Modric (Real Madrid) completed the top ten list.
Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí won the women’s trophy, succeeding her compatriot and teammate Alexia Putellas, winner in 2021 and 2022. Sam Kerr (Chelsea) and Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona) complete the podium.
Jury voting is the responsibility of a panel of more than a hundred journalists from different countries, who individually vote for the five best. The choice of the nominees was made by journalists from the magazine France Football and the newspaper L’Équipe, together with former footballer Didier Drogba.
In addition to Cristiano Ronaldo, two Portuguese players have already won prizes: Eusébio in the 1965 edition and Luís Figo in 2000. After Messi (8) and CR7 (5), the players with the most Ballon d’Ors are Johan Cruijff (1971). , 1973 and 1974), Michel Platini (1983, 1984 and 1985) and Marco van Basten (1988, 1989 and 1992).
The Ballon d’Or trophy was created by French magazine France Football and was awarded independently, between 1956 and 2009, and again from 2016, following the end of its seven-year partnership with FIFA. Between 1956 and 1994, only European players were nominated – Di Stefano and Eusébio were rewarded for being naturalized. But from 1995 it was open to all players, interestingly the year it was won by Liberian George Weah, then an AC Milan player.
Bellingham wins Kopa Trophy, António Silva 8th
Real Madrid’s English midfielder Jude Bellingham was named the best under-21 footballer of 2023. Portuguese defender António Silva, who plays for Benfica, was eighth on the list, also behind German Musiala (Bayern Munich), of Spain Gavi, Pedri and Baldé (all Barcelona), Frenchman Camavinga (Real Madrid) and Dutchman Xavi Simons (Leipzig).
Barcelona was voted the best club in women’s football in a year in which it won the European title.
The goalkeeper who defended Argentina’s goal at the 2022 World Cup, Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa), won the Lev Yashin Award, given to the best goalkeeper in the world.
Real Madrid’s Brazilian striker Vinicius Jr. received the Sócrates Award, which rewards footballers involved in relevant solidarity actions.
The Gerd Muller Trophy, the prize awarded to the top scorer of the world championships, was won by Norwegian striker Erling Haaland (Manchester City).
Just like last season, Manchester City won the award for best men’s football club.
Source: DN
