Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or for the eighth time, extending his record for the most coveted individual honor in world football. The Inter Miami star finished ahead of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé in the voting.
Even fellow contestant Jude Bellingham offered his support to the superstar after he won the Kopa Trophy.
“It’s a World Cup year and Lionel Messi had a fantastic World Cup, he deserves to win the Ballon d’Or,” Bellingham said.
Messi’s candidacy was mainly boosted by Argentina’s triumph at the 2022 World Cup. He won the Ballon d’Or for seven goals and three assists as La Albiceleste were world champions for the third time.
It was the crowning achievement of a storied career that allowed him to carve out his own legacy with the national team and overcome longstanding comparisons with Diego Maradona. The constant measuring against Maradona created an at times tense dynamic between him and his compatriots.
Many will question whether Messi was the most deserving opponent in the field.
His form dipped in the second half of the 2022–23 season with Paris Saint-Germain, and thanks to an appearance in the last 16 of the Champions League, the campaign was widely regarded as a disappointment for the French side, despite winning Ligue 1. Messi was among those labeled as wider by disgruntled fans problems within the PSG.
While the 36-year-old looked rejuvenated after signing for Inter Miami, winning the League Cup and finishing second in the US Open Cup aren’t usually the kind of accolades that headline a Ballon d’Or resume.
Holland was probably the most logical replacement for Messi.
The Norwegian striker scored 36 Premier League goals in 2022-23 along with 12 in the Champions League and is just as prolific to start 2023-24. He has scored 13 goals in the last two tournaments.
Thanks in part to Haaland’s efforts, Manchester City became the first English club since rivals Manchester United in 1998–99 to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same year.
In most years, all of that combined would be enough to catapult a player to the Ballon d’Or.
The 23-year-old’s time will probably come sooner or later, and the same can be said for Mbappé and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham.
For more than a decade, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo maintained an almost total duopoly for the Ballon d’Or. Ronaldo was the first to win in 2008, and either he or Messi have been on top in all but two of the following 14 years. Luka Modrić (2018) and Karim Benzema (2022) were exceptions.
That run is likely to end for good in 2024. Once it does, the trio of Haaland, Mbappé and Bellingham are poised to become perennial challengers.
