Lionel Messi, then 22 years old and with long hair, was afraid of what the future held after winning his first Ballon d’Or in 2009.
Messi worried, “It won’t be easy to [repeat] after a year like the one we just had,” after he was overwhelmingly chosen as the world’s best player. The next one should be just as good, I hope. But it’s not easy to win the Ballon d’Or twice in a row.
Messi not only won two games in a row, he won a record-setting four games in a row. In 2023, he won his eighth title of his career. That saying that winning back-to-back Ballon d’Or is “not an easy thing” is true. But is it possible for any other player to get eight in a career?
Is Lionel Messi going to win his ninth Ballon d’Or?
When the lineup for the Ballon d’Or 2022 was made public, it had players like Dusan Vlahovic and Sebastien Haller on it, but not Messi. After a disappointing first season with Paris Saint-Germain, Messi seemed like he would never be named the best player in the world again.
After a year, all 100 writers agreed that Messi was the clear winner, with 105 points separating the 36-year-old from Erling Haaland in second place.
Already the second-oldest winner of the Ballon d’Or, Messi plays football for Inter Miami in the MLS. Since David Beckham in 2007, the league hasn’t had a nominee for the award.
It might look like Messi’s best years are over, but the Copa America this summer gives the Argentine another chance to change people’s minds with an international event. Even if it doesn’t seem likely, Messi can do anything.
The person with the most Ballon d’Or wins
In the award’s 67-year history, only ten people have raised the famous ball more than once. And only one player, Cristiano Ronaldo, has more than half of Messi’s haul: five.
Messi is two years younger than Ronaldo, and both don’t play for Europe’s top teams. The leader of Al Nassr said that he would not go back to Europe in July. He said, “That door is completely closed.” “I’m 38 and a half years old, and it’s not worth it.” I believe that Europe has lost a great deal of quality.
Ronaldo was not even on the shortlist for the 2023 Ballon d’Or, breaking a record run of 19 years. He was not even in the news in western Europe. If there is someone who has more than Messi, they haven’t even won one Ballon d’Or yet.
Possible options to beat Lionel Messi’s record of eight Ballon d’Or wins
5. Lamine Yamel
When he was given the Ballon d’Or, Messi looked to the future from the top of the football world. He mentioned some of the normal candidates for future wins (see below), but he also mentioned Lamine Yamal, a very talented young player from Barcelona.
“Lamine, who is now very young and is already playing at Barcelona and being important … will play a prominent role and fight for it in the future too,” Messi said. Yamal has a lot of time on his side at 16 years old.
4. Vinicius Junior
The wisdom Vinicius Junior shows off the field in his never-ending fight against racism can make him look older than he is. The 23-year-old, who is younger than Phil Foden, has been in the top ten of the Ballon d’Or vote for the past two years.
More Ballon d’Or winners have come from Real Madrid than from any other club. Vinicius will stay in the Spanish capital until 2027 thanks to his new contract.
3. Erling Haaland
When you play a team sport, goals win games and, most of the time, individual awards. Not many players in the modern game score goals at the scary-fast rate that Erling Haaland does.
It was true what the Norwegian said: “People are more shocked when I don’t score than when I do.” If Haaland retired without winning a single Ballon d’Or, that would be very strange. On the other hand, winning as many as eight would also be somewhat strange.
2. Jude Bellingham
It looks like Messi doesn’t think as highly of Bellingham as everyone else, maybe because he still supports Barcelona. This year’s Kopa Trophy winners were Messi’s choice, not the Real Madrid star. Messi also didn’t mention the player as a possible Ballon d’Or winner in the future.
Great players don’t always tell the future. For example, Pele never saw Nick Barmby become a world star, even though he said he would. Bellingham’s immense ability is easy for (almost) everyone to see.
There’s a chance that Luis Enrique was biased when he called Kylian Mbappe “clearly the best player in the world” earlier this season, but the PSG head coach wasn’t wearing a silver hat.
Mbappe has a quick mind and feet, and since the beginning of last season, he has scored an average of one goal every 87 minutes. If he keeps up this amazing level of play, future Ballon d’Or judges will likely agree with Enrique.
