Inter Miami superstar, Lionel Messi has been confirmed as the winner of the 2023 Ballon d’Or award in a list leaked online.
Goal reports that Messi finished in first position in the voting ahead of Erling Haaland of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe.
Haaland and Mbappe were in second and third positions respectively.
The top five is completed by Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid) and Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City).
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Other notable players in the final 10 shortlist are Victor Osimhen (Napoli), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Karim Benzema (Al Ittihad), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) and Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona).
Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard’s brilliant 2022/23 seasons saw them nominated for the prestigious men’s award, while Katie McCabe and Amanda Ilestedt are on the shortlist for the women’s equivalent.
Meanwhile, Aaron Ramsdale is one of the contenders for the Yashin Trophy which is handed out to the best goalkeeper in the world over the previous year.
The Ballon d’Or is widely recognised as the game’s most prestigious individual award, and sees journalists from around the world cast their votes to crown the world’s best player each season.
It will take place this year at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.
How does it work?
The selection period covers the 2022/23 season with the victors decided by 100 journalists from FIFA’s top-ranked member nations.
Each journalist makes their top five picks from the 30-player shortlists, with each ranking earning a number of votes. The higher the ranking, the more votes a player gets.
The players with the most votes at the end of the tally win the awards.
Who could win the men’s award?
The men’s award has been handed out since 1956, when Stanley Matthews was the inaugural recipient, while Karim Benzema is the current holder. For the 2023 edition, Martin and Bukayo have been included on a 30-man shortlist alongside some of the biggest stars in the sport.
Martin’s stellar campaign last season sees him recognised, after our skipper scored 15 Premier League goals and contributed seven assists to help us mount a title challenge right up until the closing weeks.
Bukayo enjoyed an equally impressive campaign, scoring 15 goals and providing 11 assists. He was crowned the 2022/23 PFA Young Player of the Year for 2022/23, and his exploits at the 2022 World Cup, where he netted three times during England’s run to the quarter-finals, saw him land the England Player of the Year accolade for the second-straight season.
They will be up against the likes of Lionel Messi who is aiming to win his eight Ballon d’Or after lifting the World Cup last season, while Manchester City goal machine Erling Haaland is also amongst the favourites after helping them to the treble.
FINAL RANKINGS:
- Messi
- Haaland
- Mbappé
- Vinicius Jr.
5: De Bruyne
6: Rodri
7: Gündogan
8: Osimhen
9: Julian Alvarez
10: Lewandowski
11: Bellingham
12: Bernardo Silva
13: Benzema
14: Kvaratskhelia
15: Lautaro
16: Saka
17: Emi Martinez
18: Ødegaard
19: Salah
20: Musiala
