Why Messi Will Still Win The Ballon d'Or?

 

Erling Haaland just completed the European treble as the top scorer in the Champions League, Premier League, and all European leagues; Also the best player in the Premier League and likely in the Champions League, too, but he will not win the Ballon d’Or this year. Do you know why? Because that award is going to Lionel Messi,

As you know, the Ballon d’Or changed format last year, and so the award is no longer given for a player’s performance in a calendar year, it’s now given for performances in a season. So, as far as the 2023 award goes, players have done all they can and it’s now up to the voters. And if we’re being honest, those votes will be split mainly between two men – Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi. And Here’s why Messi will win the 2023 Ballon d’Or.

First of all, he won the World Cup.

The World Cup is the peak of football worldwide, and the greatest achievement any professional footballer can aspire to. So, winning it will always put you at the forefront of whatever individual accolades are to be given out. But you know, it’s one thing to win the World Cup, and a whole different matter to win it as the best player in the tournament. And that’s what Messi did. He was easily the best player at the 2022 World Cup, and without him, Argentina would not have emerged champions. Throughout the tournament, Messi failed to score in just one game. He was also named Man of the Match in 5 out of the 7 games he played at the tournament. So, you could say that Messi had a tournament for the ages. He won the World Cup, won the World Cup Golden Ball, won the World Cup Silver Boot, and won the most Man of the Match awards ever!

Messi did not just win the World Cup.  He won it in a way that nobody else has ever been able to. This alone makes his case for the Ballon d’Or super strong. While he may not have done well in the Champions League, his World Cup performances will, surely more than cover up for that. And you know, the Ballon d’Or also considers how good a player was in the big games. And Messi was huge! He didn’t just score in the group stages and ghost in the knockout rounds. He was there every step of the way. He scored in every single round of the tournament. He scored against Australia in the round of 16, scored and assisted in the quarter-final against the Netherlands scored and assisted in the semi-final against Croatia, and in the big one against France, he scored twice and helped Argentina seal the trophy. Big performances on the biggest stage; that’s exactly how to win the Ballon d’Or.

 His main competitor did not manage to put up those big performances on the biggest stage. Apart from the fact that Haaland was missing at the World Cup, he failed to turn up in the most crucial games of the Champions League. He was insane in the round of 16, putting 5 past Leipzig and equalling Messi’s record, but he failed to score in the final and any of the semi-final games and then missed a penalty in the quarter-final.  Not very good for a Ballon d’Or contender who also failed to score in the semi-final and final of the FA Cup, and even in the Premier League, his goals seemed to dry up when it was crunch time. So, as City looked to seal their European treble, they had to rely on goals from midfielders instead of their striker. Gundogan got some important goals in the Premier League and the FA Cup final, while De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, and Rodri did the business in the semi-finals and final of the Champions League. We’re not saying that Erling Haaland was not good this season, not at all. In fact, if he is awarded the Ballon d’Or, he’d be a deserving winner. We’re just saying that considering Messi had more big-game performances in the biggest competition, he’ll be the more deserving winner.

 Manchester City operated so much as a unit for you to say that Haaland was the outright best player in the team.

You could argue that players like Rodri, Ruben Dias, Ilkay Gundogan, and John Stones were equally amazing for City. Haaland probably edges them eventually, because of the truckload of goals he got, but probably not by so much. Messi, on the other hand, was the outright best player for Argentina. Not even a shadow of a doubt there.

The fact that Man City’s success is viewed more as a tremendous team effort while Argentina’s success looks more like a Messi carry job aids Messi’s argument. Also, one reason Messi will win the Ballon d’Or is this. He was excellent for his country and good for his club. While Haaland was excellent for his club but absent for his country. Messi has a better balance. We’ve talked a lot about his excellence for Argentina, but even with PSG, Messi turned up. Yes, he got knocked out in the round of 16 of the Champions League, but he still managed to finish with 8 goal contributions in the tournament, just 5 behind Haaland. Messi had the most goal contributions for PSG in the Champions League. Also, the only players who had more Champions League assists than Messi in the 2022-23 season were De Bruyne, Vini Jr., and Dimarco, all of whom reached the semi-finals and beyond.

In the league, Messi was the most creative player, finishing with the most assists provided in the French Ligue 1 while still making it to the top 10 top scorers list. He finished with 32 goal contributions in the league which was just 2 less than Mbappe’s number. So that means that Messi was just as important as the Frenchman in PSG’s Ligue 1 success. That number also means that Messi was one of the best players in the European leagues last season. No player in Europe’s top 5 leagues provided more assists than the Argentine in the 2022-23 season. And of the top assist providers in each of the leagues, he’s the one with the most goals. So, as we said, his club season was actually pretty impressive. Not as good as Haaland’s but certainly not bad at all.

Finally, we really can’t remember the last time a player who wasn’t at the World Cup won the Ballon d’Or in a World Cup year. In 2018, Modric even got to the final. In 2014, Ronaldo was at the World Cup. In 2010, Messi was at the World Cup. In 2006, Cannavaro won the World Cup. In 2002, Ronaldo won the World Cup. In 1998, Zidane won the World Cup. We could go further and further back, but we’re sure you can already figure out the pattern. So, a big shoutout to Erling Haaland for all he was able to achieve in the 2022-23 season, but we believe that what Messi did for club and country outweighs what Haaland did for Man City, and so, having put everything into consideration, we can confidently say that Messi will be walking away with the Ballon d’Or for a mind-blowing 8th time. What a player!

Do you agree with us, though?  Who do you think will win the 2023 Ballon d’Or?