Messi won his eighth Ballon d’Or. Who was his competitor and why did the Argentine win again?

Inter Miami and Argentina national football team striker Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or for the eighth time in his career. This was reported by a Lenta.ru correspondent. The award ceremony took place on Monday, October 30, at the Chatelet musical theater in Paris.

Previously, Messi was recognized as the best football player in the world seven times. This happened in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2021. Last season, the winner of the award was the Frenchman Karim Benzema, who plays for the Saudi Arabian Al-Ittihad.

The list of candidates for the Ballon d’Or consisted of 30 players

Messi was considered the undisputed favorite, with Norwegian Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and French PSG forward Kylian Mbappe also standing out among the contenders. Last season, the player of the English club won the championship and the national Cup, as well as the Champions League, with the “citizens”. In the Premier League, the Norwegian scored a record 36 goals, and in the main European club tournament he became the top scorer with 12 goals.

Mbappe became the champion of France with PSG. In addition, as part of the national team, the forward reached the final of the World Cup in Qatar, where he scored a hat-trick. In total, the striker scored eight times at the World Cup and became the top scorer of the tournament. The Transfermarkt portal estimates the cost of Mbappe and Haaland at 180 million euros for each player. They are the most expensive players in the world at the moment.

Al-Hilal’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo was left out of the list of Ballon d’Or nominees for the first time in 19 years. He has previously won the award five times, most recently in 2017.

Last season, Messi became world champion for the first time in his career

Messi took the main title of his career at the international level last season. The Argentine, together with the national team, became the world champion. The forward scored a double in the final, and in total scored seven goals and made three assists at the tournament.

Last season, Messi was Mbappe’s teammate at PSG and also won the French championship. In addition, he became the best assistant of the tournament. In June, the Argentine left the Parisian club and joined Inter Miami, which plays in the North American Major League Soccer (MLS), as a free agent.

The Ballon d’Or was founded by France Football magazine in 1956.

For the first 39 years, only European football players from European clubs could receive it. However, in 1995 the rules were changed. From that moment on, the nationality of the player no longer mattered, but the applicant had to play in the Old World. From 2010 to 2015, a joint award was presented – the best player was determined by France Football jointly with FIFA.

Messi’s closest rival in terms of the number of Ballon d’Or wins is Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who has five titles. Three Soviet players also won the prestigious award: Igor Belanov, Oleg Blokhin and Lev Yashin. The latter is still the only goalkeeper to receive the award.