Didier Deschamps believes Lionel Messi is not the GOAT and finds it “difficult” to place him ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe. On Monday in Paris, Lionel Messi was claimed to have solved the GOAT argument by collecting his eighth Ballon d’Or.
“The Argentinians [say that Messi is the best of all time]. He is one of them, but it is difficult to say that Messi is better than Cristiano Ronaldo or Kylian Mbappe, who is younger,” Deschamps said on the sidelines of the Ballon d’Or event.
Messi has been dubbed “the greatest player of all time,” and adding the World Cup to his brilliant resume just adds to those assertions. Furthermore, no other player even comes close to the Argentine in terms of Ballon d’Or victories. After failing to make the final 30-man shortlist for the 2023 award, Ronaldo is currently a distant second with five victories.
However, France’s head coach, Didier Deschamps, is still not persuaded that the Inter Miami striker is the greatest of all time. He has suggested that both Ronaldo and Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe belong in the same category.
Argentina’s and Inter Miami’s hero led his country to World Cup glory in Qatar in 2022, scoring twice in the final victory against France. His performance at the event earned him the Ballon d’Or for the record eighth time in his career on Monday evening in Paris. Messi knocked off Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe to set the record.
Despite scoring 52 goals in the 2022-23 season while leading Manchester City to a historic triple, Messi defeated Erling Haaland and Mbappe to the individual award. Mbappe, however, had a fantastic season, scoring 55 goals for both club and country, with Messi assisting on some of those goals in his final season at PSG.
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