‘World Cup Winner’ Messi Beats ‘Scoring Monster’ Holland for 8th Ballon d’Or
Kim Min-jae regains the throne two years after writing his first World Cup winning drama, ranked 22nd.
Ranked 2nd among Asian players after Son Heung-min
Lionel Messi (36, Inter Miami), who achieved his long-cherished dream of winning the World Cup, won the Ballon d'Or for the eighth time. 안전놀이터
Lionel Messi was named the winner of the male player category at the 2023 Ballon d'Or awards ceremony held in Paris, France on the 31st (Korean time).
Messi won this award for the best soccer player of the year, beating Manchester City (England)'s ‘monster goal scorer' Erling Holland and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) teammate Kylian Mbappe in a vote of 100 reporters from around the world.
This is the first time in two years since 2021 that Messi has received the Ballon d'Or, and the eighth time in his career (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023).
Messi, who held the record for most awards, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo (5, Al-Nasr), broke his own record again.
When Karim Benzema (Al-Ittihad) won the Ballon d'Or last year, it seemed unlikely that Messi, now in his mid-30s, would win this award again.
Messi's performance on the professional stage was not that bright.
In the 2022-2023 season, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) achieved the team's 11th league title, but was eliminated in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League (UCL).
Immediately after moving to Inter Miami of Major League Soccer (MLS), the team won the League Cup trophy, but it was only an achievement achieved outside of Europe.
The World Cup victory achieved after 4 out of 5 periods brought Messi his eighth ‘Golden Ball’.
Messi, who won numerous trophies on the professional stage and won the Copa America with the Argentina national team in 2021, belatedly achieved the ‘World Cup victory‘ by making a great performance at the Qatar World Cup held in November last year.
Messi scored 7 goals and 3 assists in Qatar, leading Argentina to its first title in 36 years.
In the final against France, he scored two goals.
Messi also set a record of becoming the first player from a non-European team to receive this award.
The Ballon d'Or, which has been awarded since 1956, was always won by players from European clubs until last year.
Holland became the top scorer in both the English Premier League (EPL) and UCL in the 2022-2023 season, emerging as the best goal scorer of this era.
On paper, he seemed good enough to win the Ballon d'Or, but he couldn't beat Messi's ‘drama'.
Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), the first Asian defender to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or, ranked 22nd in the voting.
This is tied for second place among Asian players.
Son Heung-min ranked 11th last year, the highest ever for an Asian player, and in 2019, he ranked 22nd, the same as Kim Min-jae this year.
The Women's Ballon d'Or was awarded to Aitana Bonmatti, who led Spain to victory at the 2023 Australia-New Zealand Women's World Cup held in August this year.
Bonmatti also contributed to FC Barcelona winning the Women's Champions League and the regular season.
