2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023: Messi won the Ballon d’Or for the eighth time on Monday evening in Paris
And suddenly there were eight. Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or for the eighth time after 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021. The 36-year-old Argentine was honored as the world’s best footballer of the past season at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on Monday evening. He came ahead of top scorer Erling Haaland from Manchester City and Kylian Mbappé from Paris Saint-Germain. The best German was national team captain İlkay Gündoğan in 14th place, Jamal Musiala from FC Bayern came in 26th. Messi also dedicated the award to his compatriot Diego Maradona in his acceptance speech. “There is no better place to wish him a happy birthday, here near many people who love football as much as he would have wanted,” said Messi. Maradona, who died almost three years ago, would have had his birthday on the same day. »Wherever you are, Diego: all the best! This is for you too.”
The Ballon d’Or is the most prestigious award in professional football and has been presented since 1956 by the professional magazine France Football awarded, the first winner was the Englishman Stanley Matthews. With his eighth win, Messi extended his Ballon d’Or record ahead of his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the title five times. With three awards each, Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten share third place in the all-time best list.
Messi won the World Cup for the first time with the Argentine national team at the end of last year. In Qatar, the Albiceleste beat France in a final that many observers consider to be the best in World Cup history. “La Pulga” (the Flea), as Messi is called, played 55 games for Paris Saint-Germain and his new club Inter Miami in the 2022/2023 season, scoring 32 goals and providing 25 assists. He also scored 17 goals for the national team, including seven at the World Cup alone, where he became the first player in history to score at least one goal in every knockout game (round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final). According to the jury, made up of 100 journalists from all over the world, that was enough to award Haaland, the top scorer of the year, who won the phenomenal treble (Champions League, Premier League, Cup) with City, and Mbappé, the the dethroned hero of the last World Cup, despite his hat trick in the final and being named top scorer (eight goals).
The international press described Messi’s triumph on Tuesday as “consequential.” The Argentine has finally won the GOAT debate, numerous experts wrote. GOAT stands for Greatest of All Time in English. Only Lothar Matthäus seemed to disagree with Messi’s eighth Ballon d’Or. »Over the whole of last year, Haaland performed better than Messi. “It is undeserved that Messi won,” said Matthäus on Tuesday Sky. »For me there is no way around Haaland. The election is a farce, even though I’m a Messi fan.”
The evening in Paris was special in many ways for Messi, who returned to the French capital for the award just a few months after his departure from PSG to the whistles of the Paris crowd and after two mixed seasons (2021-2023).
As expected, the Spanish world champion Aitana Bonmatí won the Ballon d’Or, which has only been awarded to women since 2018. The 25-year-old won the World Cup title with the Spaniards in Australia and the Champions League with FC Barcelona.
