2023 Ballon d’Or: Lionel Messi remains the strongest candidate

Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring a goal for Inter Miami.

Only a month is left until the 2023 Ballon d’Or award winner will be announced. The awards, held by the French news magazine France Football, will announce the winners on October 30.

The Ballon d’Or is the most reputable individual award in the world of football. Lionel Messi already has seven Ballons d’Or to his name. However, he said that winning an eighth is not his current priority.

The Argentine legend led Argentina to glory at the 2022 World Cup and won the Golden Ball, awarded to the best player in the tournament. Messi also played an essential role in helping PSG win the Ligue 1 title last season with 21 goals and 20 assists in 41 appearances in all competitions.

This year, while Messi remains the strongest candidate, there is no clear and dominant favourite this time. For instance, he now faces stiff competition for the award from Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and midfielder Rodri.

The power transition from living legends to newborn ones is always exciting to see, especially in global football. This is what makes many fans remain entertained and those who bet on football with Bitcoin stay on the edge of their seats, because anything can happen at this point. This might be another year for Messi, but the youths are breathing down his neck with fierce catch-up.

After joining Manchester City in the summer of 2022, Haaland demonstrated his skills as a goal machine to strike fear into the defences of clubs across Europe.

He scored 52 goals and nine assists in 53 appearances to lead City to the treble last season. The 23-year-old player also won the European Golden Shoe. However, his failure to score in several key games towards the end of the season will