Lionel Messi had a message for Erling Haaland who came close to winning his first Ballon d’Or award at the Ballon d’Or award ceremony in Paris on October 30, 2023.
Speaking after being crowned the winner of the prestigious football award, Lionel Messi said the 2023 Ballon d’Or would been Erling Haaland’s after the latter instant impact in the Premier League with Manchester City and in Europe last season.
In quote shared by Fabrizio Romano, Lionel Messi said, “Erling Haaland deserved it (Ballon d’Or) too. He has won the Premier League, Champions League, and has been the topscorer of almost everything. This award could have been yours today too.
“I’m sure, in the next year’s, you will win it,” he said.
Prior to the award, Erling Haaland was tipped as a strong contender to challenge Messi for the award. Haaland raised the bar in the Premier League and smashed various records on his debut with Manchester City.
From back-to-back hat-tricks to a record 52-goal tally, Erling Haaland took the Premier League and European football by storm after settling with City from Borussia Dortmund.
However, he was still miles behind Lionel Messi, who added the coveted 2022 World Cup trophy to his medal hall to knock off other contenders.
Messi might not have had a season as prolific as Erling Haaland’s before joining Inter Miami but his 2022 World Cup heroics was a tie-breaker in the Ballon d’Or rankings.
Despite beating the Norwegian wonder striker to the award, Leo was still humble to pick on the latter’s incredible and prolific season.
