Marca: 'Haaland is the number one opponent for the Ballon d'Or with Messi'
Two months ago, Messi was the strongest candidate for the 2023 Ballon d'Or, after leading Argentina to the third World Cup in history, and the first time since 1986, following in the footsteps of his father. the legendary Diego Maradona. The PSG star scored seven goals, including a brace in the final, and was awarded the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball - the award for the best player of the tournament in Qatar 2022, and won the man of the match five times.
Similarly, Mbappe is another potential candidate to win the 2022 World Cup Golden Shoe with eight goals in seven matches for France. He scored three goals in the group stage, scored twice against Poland in the round of 16 and contributed in both goals against Morocco in the semi-finals. In the closing match against Argentina, Mbappe scored a hat-trick against the best goalkeeper of the Emiliano Martinez tournament, but could not help France defend the title.
However, the fact that PSG was eliminated from the French Cup and Champions League, respectively, made the position of this duo decline. At the club level this season, on all fronts, Messi scored 19 and assisted 18 goals, while Mbappe has 31 goals and eight times to clear the table for teammates to score.
"Haaland is the second strongest candidate and may soon surpass Messi to become the number one candidate for the 2022 Ballon d'Or," said Marca. Since arriving at Man City in the summer of 2022, the Norwegian striker has continuously shined, having scored 44 goals in just 37 matches in all competitions.
In the Premier League alone, Haaland has reached 30 goals, just four goals short of the record of 34 goals in a season in the Premier League, held by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole when the tournament has a total of 42 matches. The Norwegian striker is expected to break this record, and even equal England's all-time leading goalscoring record. This record belongs to the late Everton striker Dixie Dean, who scored 60 goals in just 39 games in the 1927-1928 season.
However, according to Marca, "Haaland's chance to win the first Ballon d'Or in his career will depend on Man City's performance". The Manchester club missed the League Cup, but there are opportunities in all three remaining arenas. They finished second in the English Premier League, played Sheffield United in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on April 22, and had two meetings with Bayern in the Champions League quarter-finals today, April 11 and April 19.
At this time, Messi is still considered by the bookie as the strongest candidate to win the 2023 Golden Ball. According to Paddy Power, the odds for the possibility of the Argentine star being honored by France Football magazine for the eighth time is 1/4. Following are Haaland (February 7), Mbappe, Karim Benzema (January 22), Kevin de Bruyne (January 33) and Marcus Rashford (January 40).
The Golden Ball is the most prestigious individual award in the football world, voted and awarded by France Football magazine since 1956. From 2022, France Football changed the criteria, with the Golden Ball being awarded based on success. the most recent season, not the calendar year. Last year, Benzema won this honor thanks to his brilliant performance with Real Madrid winning La Liga and the Champions League in the 2021-2022 season. This year, the achievements for the players to compete for the Golden Ball will be counted from the beginning of the 2022-2023 season.
