History-Making Moment: Lionel Messi Clinches 8th Ballon d'Or Award Officially

Lionel Messi won the 8th ‘Golden Ball’ award in his career at this year’s awards ceremony for the best football player on the planet, which took place at the Chatelet Theater in Paris (France) this morning (October 31). .

The 67th annual Ballon d’Or award ceremony by France Football magazine (France). This prestigious award has been dominated over the past 15 years by Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have won a total of 12 times (Messi 7 times, Ronaldo 5 times). Only two other players have won the “Golden Ball” since Ronaldo won in 2008, Luka Modric in 2018 and Karim Benzema last year.

Previously, Messi won the “Golden Ball” award in 2019, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021.

Messi contributed greatly to helping Argentina win the 2022 World Cup

REUTERS

Messi will benefit from a recent change, meaning the award is now based on the player’s achievements in the previous season, rather than the calendar year. Last season saw the former Barcelona star contribute greatly to helping Argentina to glory at the World Cup in Qatar, where he scored 7 goals, assisted 3 goals and was voted the best player of the tournament. It was the pinnacle moment of his admirable career and it helped Messi come out on top among 30 candidates.

Most notably, there were 7 members of the Man City team that won the historic treble of titles last season (Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League) under coach Pep Guardiola. The brightest ‘Golden Ball’ candidate among Man City’s stars is Erling Haaland, who scored 52 goals in 53 matches and won UEFA’s “Best Player of the Year” award last season.

Messi sets a record to win the ‘Golden Ball’ award

REUTERS

Messi ‘s season at club level with PSG was not very impressive, even when he and the French capital team won Ligue 1 with teammates Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. He scored 21 goals and had 20 assists in 41 matches in all competitions for PSG. But this 34-year-old superstar felt happy in Paris and was even ridiculed by the fans at times, before moving to Inter Miami in Major League Soccer (America’s top league) earlier this year.

Last season, Mbappe was PSG’s best player. The 24-year-old French striker scored 41 goals, winning the 2022 World Cup “Top Scorer” award with 8 goals after scoring a hat-trick in Messi’s final loss to Argentina.

The French lobby is strongly favoring Mpbappe, who won this year’s “Golden Ball” award in his homeland. However, the award is voted on by a jury consisting of a journalist from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings.

Mbappe was previously considered a bright candidate for the “Golden Ball” award held in his homeland

AFP

Who does the Women’s Golden Ball belong to?

The destination of the women’s tournament seems even clearer. The nomination list includes four members of the Spain team that won the Women’s World Cup in Sydney in August despite off-field turmoil, including protests against the country’s Football Association. and coach Jorge Vilda.

Alba Redondo, Salma Paralluelo and full-back Olga Carmona, who scored the winning goal in the Women’s World Cup final, were all shortlisted. But Barcelona’s Bonmati is the winner. The 25-year-old Barcelona midfielder lit up the tournament with her talent and helped the club win the Champions League. Players of defending 2023 World Cup champion Spain deserve to win the Women’s Golden Ball award. Bonmati played an important role when Barcelona won La Liga and the Women’s Champions League in the 2022-2023 season, and was later named the Best Player of the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Women’s Silver Ball title: Sam Kerr (Chelsea and Australian women’s team). Women’s Ballon d’Or title: Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona and Spain women’s team).

Other honors awarded at the event:

Best men’s football club of the year : Man City. This is a worthy reward for a perfect year for coach Pep Guardiola and his team when they won the Premier League, FA Cup and stepped on the podium for the first time in the Champions League after defeating Inter Milan in the final.

Best scorer of the year (Gerd Muller Trophy) : Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker scored 52 goals in 53 matches, winning the treble (Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League) with Man City.

The players ranked next in this category are Kylian Mbappe (2nd place), Harry Kane (3rd place), Lionel Messi (4th place) and Robert Lewandowski (5th place).

Haaland at the awards ceremony

AFP

Best goalkeeper of the year (Lev Yashin Trophy) : Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. Martinez’s most impressive achievement in the 2022-2023 season is winning the 2022 World Cup with the Argentina team.

Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and his father on the podium received the award. When Martinez walked up to receive the award, he received some reactions from the crowd below. However, the host and former famous striker Didier Drogba asked everyone in the audience to give Martinez the necessary respect.

Best goalkeeper of the year

AFP

Best women ‘s team of the year : FC Barcelona

CLB Barcelona

Socrates Award (honoring players with social contributions): Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid).

Young player (U.21) of the year : Jude Bellingham.

Jude Bellingham’s statement when receiving the Kopa Trophy (award for the best young player): “I want to thank everyone who has supported my journey from Birmingham, Dortmund to Real Madrid. Most especially, I want to express my gratitude to my family. Life at Real Madrid is truly wonderful. They have helped me a lot so that I can develop my full potential. Receiving the award This award is my honor, but my biggest desire is still to conquer the titles of Real Madrid and the England team.”