Argentina’s Messi won a record extending eighth Ballon d’Or award’ while Spain’s Aitana Bonmati bagged her first.
Lionel Messi secured an incredible eighth Ballon d’Or award during an extravagant ceremony in Paris’ where Spain’s Aitana Bonmati received the women’s equivalent. Messi’s latest honor is predominantly a recognition of his stellar performance in the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar’ where he led Argentina to victory’ netting seven crucial goals and earning the title of the tournament’s best player.
This achievement marks a pinnacle in Messi’s illustrious career’ enabling him to fend off stiff competition’ notably from Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe’ and claim the award on the stage of Paris’s Chatelet Theatre. It was a return to the French capital for Messi’ having left Paris Saint-Germain in June and joined Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.
In his acceptance speech’ Messi expressed his gratitude to his Argentina coach’ teammates’ and staff for their crucial roles in his success. He dedicated the Ballon d’Or trophy to the late Argentina legend’ Diego Maradona’ whose 63rd birthday coincided with the ceremony.
It remains to be seen if Messi will again feature in the running for the prize’ which is voted for by one journalist in each of the top 100 nations in the FIFA ranking.
“I am not thinking about the long-term future. I am just enjoying the day-to-day at the moment’” he said.
Messi will struggle to hold off the next wave of superstars’ led by Mbappe’ Haaland and Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham’ but his World Cup performances made his victory this time feel inevitable.
Messi’s latest Ballon d’Or victory reflects the recent change in the award’s criteria’ which now considers a player’s performance over the last season instead of the calendar year. Despite Kylian Mbappe’s standout performance in the 2022 World Cup’ where he scored 41 goals and claimed the World Cup Golden Boot with eight goals’ he fell short of the Ballon d’Or’ securing the third position. Erling Haaland took the second spot’ having scored a remarkable 52 goals in 53 games for Manchester City’ who clinched the English Premier League’ FA Cup’ and Champions League.
With this eighth Ballon d’Or’ Messi now stands three trophies ahead of his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo’ making him the most decorated player in the award’s history. The question remains whether Messi can continue his dominance’ given the rising competition from emerging stars like Mbappe’ Haaland’ and Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham.
The women’s award was a particularly straightforward decision’ with Aitana Bonmati receiving the honor for her exceptional performance during Spain’s triumph in the Women’s World Cup held in Australia in August. The 25-year-old midfielder stood out as the best player in the Women’s World Cup’ where the Spanish team overcame various off-field challenges’ including protests against their national federation and coach Jorge Vilda’ to ultimately claim the prestigious trophy.
Spain’s Aitana Bonmati wins Golden Ball for top Women’s World Cup player
Bellingham himself claimed the Kopa Trophy for the best player under 21’ an acknowledgment of his outstanding performances’ which include 13 goals in 13 games for Real Madrid. His Madrid teammate’ Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior’ was honored with the Socrates Award for his off-pitch contributions.
Bellingham’s Madrid teammate’ the Brazil forward Vinicius Junior’ won the Socrates Award in recognition of his off-pitch work.
Messi’s Argentina colleague Emiliano Martinez won the Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper of the season.
Bellingham says on his twitter post
“Beautiful night at the Balond’or for the first time. Very honoured to be awarded with the Kopa Trophy. Thank you to all teammates’ members of staff and coaches who have helped and shown me support up until this point of my journey and especially in the past year. Finally’ couldn’t be possible without the love from the fans. Now to continue to work for the most important thing in football’ success and trophies with the team!”
The Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper of the season was awarded to Messi’s fellow Argentine’ Emiliano Martinez’ recognizing his impressive performances between the posts.
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