Ballon d’Or award 2023: Lionel Messi tipped to win eighth Golden Ball

As he entered his 30s, he dropped back to a deeper position, took on a playmaking role for his team, and utilized his skill and intelligence to control matches when he could no longer outpace the opponents at will, reminding us of one of the legends of our times. There is a gap of decades between Stéfano and Lionel Messi — who is expected to get it for the record eighth time at this year’s ceremony in Paris on Monday (October 30) — but their game has many things in common; we will come back to this later.

Recognising the standout player

Matthews, the inaugural Ballon d’Or winner, too, was an exceptionally fast player with a keen understanding of passing, and he seldom engaged in tackling his opponents. This player, whom we unfortunately never had the opportunity to watch, possessed a complete range of attributes, including excellent close control, impressive dribbling skills, and lightning speed. The Ballon d'Or, since its inception, has consistently recognized special players, with very few exceptions.

When the former French footballer-turned-editor Gabriel Hanot and his writer partner Jacques Ferran conceived the notion of establishing an individual accolade to acknowledge the male player who had exhibited the most exceptional performance in the year prior, it marked the beginning of a new era. Hanot and Ferran, who had previously laid the groundwork for the European championship, also foresaw the involvement of sports writers in determining the standout player in the European championship.

Starting from 1956, the French publication France Football has been responsible for bestowing the Ballon d’Or, meaning Golden Ball in French. Under a contractual arrangement with FIFA, the award briefly merged with the World FIFA Player of the Year award, which was established in 1991, and was rebranded as the Ballon d’Or FIFA between 2010 and 2015.

Following the end of this collaboration in 2016, the award reverted to its original title, the Ballon d’Or, and FIFA resumed its individual annual accolade, the FIFA Best Men’s Category Player. Athletes who received the joint Ballon d'Or FIFA are recognized as champions by both award-granting organizations, and interestingly only two individuals share this distinction — you know who.

The crowning glory

Over the course of 67 years, only 43 players have won the Ballon d’Or, largely due to the exceptional talents of two footballers who fans often regard as otherworldly: Lionel Andrés Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro. From 2008 to 2021, the Ballon d’Or winners’ list featured just two names, with the only exception being Croatian footballer Luka Modrić in 2018. Messi has won the award seven times, while Ronaldo has claimed it five times. There are a few others also who had won it multiple times; while Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco Van Basten have claimed it thrice, Di Stéfano, Ronaldo Nazario, Franz Beckenbauer, Kevin Keegan and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge have won it twice.

The noticeable omissions from the list are Pele and Diego Maradona. In 1958, when Pele was at the height of his form, the Ballon d’Or was awarded to the Frenchman Raymond Kopa. In 1962, it went to Josef Masopust of Czechoslovakia, and in 1970, it was Gerd Müller who received the honour. These historical facts make it clear that Igor Belanov’s win in 1986, a year when Maradona was ruling the football world, may not seem that absurd, but it was a reflection of the award’s specific criteria at the time. Even though the Ballon d’Or was originally intended for players from European countries, Di Stéfano won it because he held a Spanish passport and was more of a Real Madrid legend than an Argentine.

Apart from Leo and Rono, the list of Ballon d’Or has some unique names on it, with George Best and George Weah sticking out. Although considered one of the most celebrated Manchester United legends, George Best, who earned 37 caps for Northern Ireland and scored nine goals, never had the opportunity to participate in a single World Cup match. In recognition of his remarkable talents, FIFA Magazine and a Grand Jury ranked him fifth for the title of the player of the twentieth century, sharing this distinction with Pele, Di Stefano, Maradona, Beckenbauer, and Cruyff. Weah, who later became the President of Liberia, was the first and only African to win the award.

The Ronaldo-Messi dominance

Since the onset of the Ronaldo-Messi era in 2008, when Ronaldo secured the title and Messi finished second, they maintained their dominance until 2020. For the most part, one of them consistently landed in the top three rankings, with the exceptions being in 2010 when Ronaldo missed out, and in 2018 when Messi was not among the top three. As this decade unfolds, the peak years are coming to a close for these legends. Messi, who didn’t make the shortlist last year, made a remarkable comeback with a triumphant World Cup victory.

The young talents, English-Norwegian Erling Haaland of Manchester City and the French sensation Kylian Mbappe, are the two anticipated to join Messi in the top three rankings.

As far as the Ballon d’Or Féminin is concerned, Aitana Bonmati of Spain is widely regarded as the leading candidate for the award in the eyes of the media. Although the Barcelona Femeni midfielder had been nominated for the Women’s Ballon d’Or before, she had never made it to the top three. However, this year, due to a combination of her team’s accomplishments and her outstanding individual performances, she is highly anticipated to secure the prize. Moroccan Yassine Bounou and Emiliano Martínez, the world cup golden glove winner of Argentina, are the contenders for the Lev Yashin trophy for the best keeper and there is a string of candidates from Jude Bellingham to Gavi for the Kopa trophy this time.

Regarding Messi’s adaptation to a different role, it’s intriguing to note that the Argentine captain has continued to maintain his remarkable form, particularly when considering his contributions to goal-scoring. This shift in Messi’s style, which bears echoes of Di Stéfano’s legacy, symbolizes the evolving nature of football that we can expect to see in the upcoming decades.