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'O r- 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...