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3 reasons why Mbappe or Haaland should win the Ballon d'Or ahead of Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi is arguably one of the greatest players of all time, some even believe he is the greatest footballer to ever exist. His reputation precedes him, and it seems it counts a lot when it comes individual trophies like the Ballon d'Or. 

Having played an integral role in the end of Argentina's 37 year wait to win the World Cup, he is undoubtedly the favorite to win the Ballon d'Or in 2023. But when it comes to determining who's deserving of the Ballon d'Or, winning the greatest individual award should not be used as an index and there are reasons for that:

1. Previous players that won the World Cup were never considered for Ballon d'Or- Apart from Fabio Cannavaro who captained Italy to the 2006 World Cup, no other World Cup winning captain or player have been deemed good enough to win the Ballon d'Or. 

Since Italy, the World Cup has been won by Spain, Germany and France but none of their players were chosen to win it. Shamefully, Ronaldo was given the trophy ahead of German stars who won trophies with both club and country forcing the nation to brandish the individual accolade as joke.

Why? Ronaldo ended the season trophyless but still won it ahead of Frank Ribery who lifted the treble with Bayern Munich. The following season, Ronaldo was awarded ahead of German players who won the World Cup. 

This season, Erling Haaland won the treble with Manchester City while Mbappe was the best player in PSG and he created history with France by becoming the second player in World Cup history to score a hattrick in the final after the late Pele.


2. Lionel Messi had an average season with PSG and was forced out of the club by fans-

Both Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland enjoyed a better season that Lionel Messi. Both players were the star of their respective teams and fans sang out in adulation of their respective performances unlike Lionel Messi whose house where barraged by PSG ultra who wanted him out of their club after getting exhausted with his dreadful performance. 

So why should a player who played dreadfully for an entire season be regarded as the best player in the world. It doesn't make sense.

3. The Ballon d'Or is turning into a joke, it's now a 'Ronaldo vs Messi' title-

There's a reason why FIFA had to introduce its own 'World Best Player' to rival controversy Ballon d'or. German and French players no longer wanted to be part of it because they felt it was corrupt and bias. It was now considered a Ronaldo vs Messi trophy and not a representation of Europe's elite players. 

Over the years, several high performing players were overlooked for the 'Messi and Ronaldo award' despite enjoying a having remarkable season and winning the biggest trophy in Europe. 

Players like Wesley Sneider (Inter Milan 2009), Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich 2013), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich 2014) just to mention a few were ignored for Ronaldo or Messi. 

This year, it feels like the Ballon d'or are on the verge of repeating past mistakes by giving to Messi whose season was just too average. Off course, Lionel Messi is a super talented player but 8 matches in the World Cup should never be used to judge who the best player in the world when they're players who performed at the highest level of a whole season. 




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