The Ballon d’Or is one of the most prestigious individual awards in world football. Awarded to the player deemed to have had the best season as voted by his peers, it was dominated in the late 2000s and 2010s by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Karim Benzema was awarded the Ballon d’Or 2022, becoming the oldest recipient since Sir Stanley Matthews to win the award.
Leagues around Europe will also be hoping to break the monopoly La Liga has on the Ballon d’Or. Champions League glory has often been crucial to claiming the prestigious award, whilst this winter’s World Cup could also go a huge way to deciding who claims the accolade in 12 months’ time.
Previously, a player’s achievements from January to December in a given year were what the Ballon d’Or was based on, which rather confusingly made it two half seasons. Now, however, a typical full club season from one summer to the next is the timeframe things will be judged on.
Right in the middle of that for the 2023 award was the 2022 World Cup, with the finals in Qatar taking place after the 2022 Ballon d’Or ceremony.
There is no set date for the Ballon d’Or 2023 ceremony and while 2 of them are early favourites to win it, Lionel Messi is one of them who is in pole position to be one of the top contenders to win football’s biggest individual award. Closest to him is Kylian Mbappe, and he will finish 2022 with the most goals scored for club and country following his World Cup participation with France.
Lionel Messi – PSG & Argentina
His total of seven Ballon d’Ors looks set to stand forever, but adding an eighth would further cement his legacy.
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Messi played in his last World Cup in Qatar 2022 and not only did he end up winning the Golden Ball at the tournament(the only player in World Cup history to have won it twice), but the Argentine legend also went all the way to finally win the most prestigious trophy in football.
PSG are also hunting their first Champions League and helping them conquer Europe would be his fifth success in the competition. Messi has also started the season impressively after an indifferent first year in Paris as he begins to hit top form once more.
These 2 got to win the UCL for PSG 😬#Messi #Mbappe #PSG pic.twitter.com/00ZQgvcsLc
— FootTheBall FC (@FootTheBallFC) December 26, 2022
Kylian Mbappe – PSG & France
There is still half of the season left to play for the 23-year-old to keep making a case of his own, and he scored a…
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