Who will win the 2023 Ballon d’Or?

The Ballon d’Or is given to the best football player in the world every year. Karim Benzema won the prestigious award last year after his 44 goals helped Real Madrid lift the La Liga and Champions League trophies. 

Shockingly, Lionel Messi wasn’t even nominated for the first time since 2005. However, the 35-year-old has made a massive comeback this year and is now firmly leading the race for the 2023 Ballon d’Or. 

Messi recently won the World Cup trophy for the first time in his career. He scored seven goals in seven games to lead Argentina to success in Qatar. 

The experienced forward also made an impressive start to the 2022-23 season in Ligue 1, notching seven goals in 13 games. 

He is most likely to win the prestigious award but if anyone is going to give Messi competition, then it will be his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe. 

The 24-year-old was spectacular throughout the tournament and was highly unlucky not to win the World Cup for France. He scored eight goals in Qatar, including a hat-trick in the final, and deservedly won the Golden Boot award. 

If France had won the World Cup, then Mbappe would have been the most likely candidate to make it to the list of Ballon d’Or winners. 

Meanwhile, Erling Haaland is another big name who has a chance to win the prestigious award. 

Unfortunately, the 22-year-old couldn’t showcase his skills in Qatar as his country Norway failed to qualify. 

However, he has taken the Premier League by storm, with the Norwegian already scoring 18 goals in 13 appearances. 

If Haaland manages to continue his goalscoring feats in the English top-flight and leads Manchester City on a deep run in the Champions League, then he could overtake Messi for the 2023 Ballon d’Or.