Argentine Lionel Messi made history again by winning the eighth Ballon d’Or of his career after surpassing Norwegian Erling Haaland in the voting to become the first player from outside Europe and the first MLS footballer to win it.
The 67th Ballon d’Or award ceremony took place this Monday at the Châtelet Theater in Paris where Messi proclaimed himself the king of football, surprisingly on the birthday of Diego Armando Maradona, who would have turned 63 on October 30. The award was given to him by David Beckham, who was a key player in bringing him to Inter Miami.
“I want to make a special mention to all the people for their desire for me to become world champion, so that I can achieve my dream, the one that I don’t have. Thank God that I received a lot of love and it’s very special that many people of different nationalities want Argentina to be the world champion,” said Leo.
Messi broke many records after receiving his eighth Ballon d’Or, such as being the first player to win it in three different decades (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021), which is the first player to achieve it at the age of 36. and the player who won it with the longest period of time (14 years) between the first and the last.
Leo Messi achieved success thanks to the incredible World Cup he played with the Argentine team in Qatar 2022. La Pulga scored seven goals – including a double against France in the Final – and gave three assists to lead the Albiceleste to their third World Cup. the first in 36 years.
In his final season at PSG, Messi finished with 21 goals and 20 assists in 41 games and won the Ligue 1 and the French Super Cup.
During his first months in the United States he transformed Inter Miami to win the Leagues Cup, the first title in the history of the MLS club, after scoring 10 goals in seven games – a goal included in the Final – .
With his eighth Ballon d’Or in his 19-year career, Messi moved to the top with three more trophies than Cristiano Ronaldo (5) and five more than Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten (3 ). In addition, the Argentine replaced Karim Benzema, who won it in 2022 and this year finished in 16th place.
1- Lionel Messi (PSG / Inter Miami)
2- Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
3- Kylian Mbappé (PSG)
4- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
5- Rodri (Manchester City)
6- Vinícius Jr. (Real Madrid)
7- Julián Álvarez (Manchester City)
8- Victor Osimhen (Napoli)
9- Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
10- Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
11- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
12- Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
13- Yassine Bounou (Sevilla / Al Hilal)
14- Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City / Barcelona)
15- Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa)
16- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid / Al-Ittihad)
17- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)
18- Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund / Real Madrid)
19- Harry Kane (Tottenham / Bayern Munich)
20- Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan)
21- Antoine Griezmann (Atletico de Madrid)
22- Kim Min-jae (Napoli / Bayern Munich)
23- André Onana (Inter Milan / Manchester United)
24- Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
25- Josko Gvardiol (Leipzig / Manchester City)
26- Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
27- Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan)
28- Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt / PSG)
29- Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
30- Rubén Dias (Manchester City)
