Lionel Messi won his eighth Ballon d’Or this year, beating out Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Kevin De Bruyne, and others. Because the Ballon d’Or is determined by a voting mechanism, France Football will reveal who voted for whom after the event. They have revealed the list of nations that voted for Messi and Haaland this year.
Lionel Messi was considered a frontrunner to win the Ballon d’Or this year. However, it was predicted that the fight would be tight in order to choose a winner. Messi seemed to have won by a landslide. France Football bestows the honour based on votes cast by journalists from across the world. The list includes journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA Men’s World Rankings.
They are given a list of 30 players to choose from. They are then instructed to write down their top five selections in order. The first-placed player earns 6 points, the second-placed player receives 4 points, and the third, fourth, and fifth-placed players receive 3, 2, and 1 point, respectively. Journalists from 65 countries voted for Messi to take first place.
India being at 99 at the time of the voting was also given the rights to vote for the biggest accolade in football. Journalist Dhiman Sarkar from Hindustan TImes represented India in the voting. Sarkar, ranked <essi at first followed by Haaland. Mbappe was at the third, with Osimhen and Gvardiol following him.
After all of the points were tallied, Messi was declared the Ballon d’Or 2023 winner with 462 points. While many predicted a close race between Messi and Haaland, it was a landslide victory for Messi. Haaland earned a total of 357 points. Kylian Mbappe took third place with 270 points.
It does, however, dispel any reservations that anyone had about Messi’s ability to win the Ballon d’Or. Last season was perhaps one of Messi’s most memorable and successful, as he won his career’s most coveted title, the World Cup.
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