The 2023 Ballon d’Or ceremony is scheduled to be held on October 30 in Paris, France, but a major leak has revealed that the prestigious award will be won by Argentina’s Lionel Messi.
Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema, and Jude Bellingham have all been in contention to bag the highest individual award in football but Messi was always the clear favourite after his World Cup triumph in Qatar last year.
Although Messi had an underwhelming league campaign with his former club, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), as his side was knocked out of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) Round of 16 and didn’t go further in the French Cup as well, his World Cup campaign where the 36-year-old notched seven goals, with four penalties, made his clear favourite.
On the other hand, Haaland shattered all the records during his first season in the English Premier League with Manchester City.
The Norwegian striker scored 52 goals across all competitions and also helped Pep Guardiola’s side claim a historic treble (League title, UCL, Domestic Cup) for the first time in their history.
Messi, who moved to the Major League Soccer (MLS) club Inter Miami this summer, would become the first footballer based outside Europe to win the Ballon d’Or.
This will be the Argentine’s record eighth Ballon d’Or, which is the most in history. Former Real Madrid and Manchester United player, Cristiano Ronaldo, with five Golden Balls is second.
The winner of the women’s award, the Ballon d’Or Feminin, was also leaked in the report.
Spain’s women's football made history in August by winning their maiden Women’s World Cup after beating England 1-0 courtesy of Olga Carmona’s first-half strike.
For creating the history with La Roja, six members of Spain’s World Cup-winning team are on the 30-player longlist and Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati, who won the Golden Ball at the tournament, is set to bag the award.
