Why Messi shouldn't win the 2023 Ballon d'Or

If everything goes to plan, Lionel Messi will cement his place as the best player in history by winning what will be the eighth Ballon d'Or of his career.

It is difficult to think that any player will ever surpass a mark like this since his closest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, has five Ballon d'Or awards for his legendary career.

Thanks to his World Cup win, Messi is the favourite to take out the coveted trophy, but many are asking the question: does he really deserve the 2023 Ballon d'Or?

It is worth remembering that, since 2021, the award is based on a complete season, and not on the calendar year, so this award would take into account Messi's last season with PSG and the Argentine National Team.

On the other hand, the Ballon d'Or also points out that it rewards the individual performances of each player – leaving the team performance and fair play of the athlete as the second and third considerations, respectively.

In this case, Messi's season at PSG, by numbers, has been outstanding. In 41 games, the Argentine scored 21 goals and contributed 20 assists, including in Ligue 1 and the Champions League, where the Argentine scored 4 goals.

These records allowed PSG to win the French league, by just one point over Lens, but in the Champions League everything was different, as Bayern Munich destroyed PSG in the round of 16, by a resounding 3-0 aggregate score.

Furthermore, if you have to stick to the numbers, it is worth noting that Kylian Mbappé has had better numbers Leo Messi, since the Frenchman scored 41 goals and gave 9 assists, in 43 games.

But then there is the World Cup. A tournament which Argentina won and in which Leo Messi was able to notch up 7 goals and 3 assists. These are controversial figures because 4 of those 7 goals were from penalties, plus one more missed against Poland.

Never in the history of the World Cups has a team taken 5 penalties, not counting the tiebreakers, obviously. Only two teams, The Netherlands in 1978 and Portugal in 1966, had taken 4 penalties in a tournament.

But, again, if individual performance comes first, Kylian Mbappé has something to say about it. France played and lost the final with Argentina, in a match that ended in a 3-3 tie and was decided on penalties.

In that match, Mbappé scored a historic hat-trick that made him the top scorer of the tournament, with 8 goals, in addition to giving 2 assists.

In that case, shouldn't they give the Ballon d'Or to Kylian Mbappé? Surely by numbers alone Mbappé should be the favourite over Messi.

Now, the Norwegian factor is still missing: Erling Haaland. The forward was outstanding in his first season at Manchester City, with devastating numbers that make those of Messi and Mbappé look like child's play.

Haaland played a total of 52 games under Guardiola, in which he scored 52 goals and distributed 9 assists. Historical figures that earned him top scorer status in the Premier League and the Champions League.

What's more, Manchester City won the two titles with sufficiency, supported by the legendary figures of its biggest star.

And yes, it is true that Norway did not play in the World Cup in Qatar, as it did not qualify, but it's got nothing to do with Haaland – who in the last 14 games with his national team has scored 16 goals.

Looking at his immediate competition, Messi's numbers pale in comparison to Mbappé, and the French star's stats fall well short of Erling Haaland. So why is Messi the favourite and does he really deserve another Ballon d'Or? Let us know what you think in the comments.