Lionel Messi The Winner Of The Ballon D'or: Controversy Or Meritocratic Victory?

The Ballon d'Or is one of the most prestigious awards in the world of football.

Since 1956, it has been awarded to the best footballer of the year, which obviously stirs up a competitive spirit among the nominees.

This coveted award is presented by France Football magazine.

This year's Ballon d'Or nominees were some of the most iconic players such as Kylian Mbappé, Luka Modric, Robert Lewandowski, Erling Haalandy and Lionel Messi.

The Argentine soccer star made history by winning his eighth Ballon d'Or on Monday, October 30, becoming the first player to reach the milestone while playing for a United States team.

The winner of the award was determined by the votes of 100 soccer journalists, who crowned Messi the world's best player.

However, the Argentine's victory was not unanimous.

Controversies surrounding Messi's victory

Lothar Matthaus, the former German midfielder who was once a key figure in Germany's victory at the 1990 World Cup in Italy and won the Ballon d'Or that same year, expressed his dissatisfaction with Messi's victory in a recent interview on Sky Sports:

“Haaland played better than Messi all last year. It shows that a World Cup counts more than anything else. I don't think he deserved to win the Ballon d'Or. I think the election was a farce and I say this as a Messi fan.”

Matthaus's words caused a great deal of controversy in the soccer world.

Ángel Di María, Messi's Argentine teammate, responded to Diario Olé on his Instagram publication with a powerful sentence:

"Cry somewhere else."

In the same vein, Tomás Roncero, Spanish sports journalist and deputy director of the newspaper As, shared his opinion on Instagram.

Cristiano Ronaldo responded to Roncero's video with laughing emoticons, but what made him so funny?

Roncero claimed that Messi should not have won eight Ballon d'Ors, but only five.

In his opinion, three of those awards were given unfairly.

In 2010, Roncero argued that the award should have gone to Andrés Iniesta, a prominent figure in both FC Barcelona and the Spanish team that won the World Cup.

In 2021, Roncero argues that the Ballon d'Or should have gone to Robert Lewandowski, who achieved a “sextet” with Bayern Munich.

Finally, in 2023, after Erling Haaland was praised for his outstanding performances with Manchester City and won the Golden Shoe as top scorer for the 2022-2023 season, Roncero questioned whether Messi really deserved the award.

Ronaldo's reaction to the publication has had a media reach of 322,037 likes to date.

Erling Haaland and his podium for the Ballon d'Or

The selection of Messi as the winner has sparked a number of reactions, both positive and negative.

Many prominent figures in football had already predicted that Messi would win the 2023 Ballon d'Or due to his outstanding performance at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

However, many others have commented on Erling Haaland's outstanding season, which has undoubtedly made him the winner of his first Ballon d'Or.

But why Erling Haaland?

Haaland, the Norwegian striker, had an exceptional year with Manchester City.

He was an integral part of their historic treble of the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

At the tender age of 23, he broke numerous scoring records in England and became the first Norwegian to stand on the podium of the Ballon d'Or.

Although he did not win the award, Erling Haaland did not go home empty-handed as he won the Gerd Müller Trophy, an award that recognizes him as the top scorer of the year thanks to his outstanding performances for Manchester City and the Polish national team.

The controversy continues: do you agree with the choice of Lionel Messi as the winner of the Ballon d'Or? Do you think the reputation of the Ballon d'Or is the same today as it was 20 years ago?

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