Lionel Messi collected a record-extending seventh Ballon d’Or in 2021 – and many thought it would be his last. But after his astonishing performances in Argentina’s 2022 World Cup triumph, he’s now the hot favourite to win the next award in 2023.
Karim Benzema won the 2022 Ballon d’Or, while Messi failed to even make the shortlist for the first time since 2005. But something tells us the legendary Argentinian No.10 will be picking his eighth golden ball next year – he won his last thanks to his stunning Copa America success in 2021, and the World Cup is an even grander stage.
The Ballon d’Or has a long history of celebrating players who shone at the World Cup, and Messi was simply awe-inspiring in Qatar, deservedly winning the best player award for his starring role in the Albiceleste’s successful campaign.
Here are the six players that have lifted the Ballon d’Or off the back of great World Cups.
Luka Modric (2018)
The man that broke Messi and Ronaldo’s duopoly of the Ballon d’Or, a run that lasted for a decade.
Modric’s well-deserved Golden Ball wasn’t entirely off the back of his performances at Russia 2018 – he just won a third successive Champions League that year – but they surely sealed it for him. The Real Madrid midfielder was nothing short of magisterial in Croatia’s shock run to the Moscow final.
Modric couldn’t quite drag Croatia over the line, as France ran rampant with a 4-2 victory at the Luzhniki, but he was still awarded the best player of the tournament award. It was only right that the Ballon d’Or followed.
“I cannot say why someone did not attend – that’s their choice,” Modric said, after Messi and Ronaldo snubbed the ceremony. “That is logical, is it not?
“It turns out these choices and trophies only have value when they get them. It is not fair to their playing colleagues, or to the voters who have nominated them for the past 10 years – nor for football or supporters.”
Fabio Cannavaro (2006)
The centre-back was nothing short of a colossus during Italy’s victorious run to World Cup glory in 2006.
He played every minute of the tournament as the Azzurri failed to concede a single goal from open play.
“What we achieved definitely gets me more excited now than in 2006,” Cannavaro recalled years later in an interview with FIFA+. “At the time there was the euphoria and craziness of getting over the finish line. You can’t take it all in straight away.
“Only now, many years…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…