Lionel Messi won his record 8th Ballon d’Or this year going against various talents like Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Kevin De Bruyne, and more. As the Ballon d’Or is decided on a voting system, France Football share who voted for whom after the ceremony ends. They have shared this year’s list of countries who voted for Messi and Haaland. Messi came out as the first choice for 65 countries, while Haaland got the first place vote for 21 countries, including France.
Lionel Messi was already a favourite for this year’s Ballon d’Or. However, it was guessed that the fight would be close to determine the winner. It seems like Messi won by a landslide. France Football give the award on the basis of votes that journalists around the world put forth. Journalists from the top 100 nations in the FIFA Men’s World Rankings are put on the jury to vote. They are given a shortlist of 30 players. They are then required to pen down their top 5 choices in order.
The 1st-placed player receives 6 points, the 2nd receives 4 points, 3rd, 4th, and 5th receive 3, 2, and 1 point respectively. Journalists from 65 nations voted for Messi in the 1st place. Evidently, all World Cup-winning nations except France voted for Messi. Whereas, France put Erling Haaland’s name as their first choice for the Ballon d’Or winner. Surprisingly, even after becoming the Golden Boot winner and treble winner with Manchester City in the Premier League last season, England’s reporter voted for Messi as his first choice.
After the total points were counted, Messi came out as the Ballon d’Or 2023 winner with 462 points. While many thought the competition would be close between him and Haaland, it was rather a landslide win for Messi. Haaland accumulated a total of 357 points. Kylian Mbappe came third with 270 points. Kevin De Bruyne was fourth with 100 points and Rodri was fifth with 57 points. Similar to England and Brazil’s choice, France’s choice for the 1st place was a surprise as well.
However, it certainly clears everyone’s doubts who had been doubting as to how Messi could have won the Ballon d’Or. Last season was probably one of the most memorable and most successful ones for Messi who won his career’s most desired trophy, the World Cup. His contribution to that win was immeasurable. He scored 7 out of Argentina’s 18 goals in the competition. He ended up only 1 goal behind the Golden Boot winner Kylian Mbappe. Messi also bagged the most (5) Player of the Match trophies in the tournament.
Hence, inevitably, the Argentina captain won the Golden Ball at the end of the World Cup. However, considering his season with PSG was uneventful, many people doubted how Messi’s season could have overtaken Haaland’s achievements. Haaland scored a total of 56 goals last season throughout all competitions. He helped Manchester City win their first-ever Champions League and treble as well. However, the votes show that Messi undoubtedly had the upper hand inin winning the Ballon d’Or award after winning the World Cup.
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