30 October 2023 , 12:47
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Eden Hazard and Olivier Giroud believe Lionel Messi is a worthy winner of the 2023 Ballon d'Or after it was leaked that the Argentine star had won the award for an eighth time.
Messi has been nominated for the Ballon d'Or alongside Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe, but it is the Inter Miami captain who is expected to be awarded the prize. The highlight of the Argentine's year was leading his nation to the World Cup in Qatar last December, after Argentina defeated France 4-2 on penalties following a 3-3 draw after extra time.
On the back of his historic victory, his former El Classico rival Hazard believes this makes him more than deserving of football's most prestigious individual prize.
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The former Chelsea and Real Madrid winger told Telefoot: "It wouldn’t be logical to not give the Ballon d’Or to the best player in history in the year that he won the World Cup." One man who was on the wrong end of Messi Argentina's World Cup win was Frenchman Giroud.
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Despite this, the AC Milan striker echoed the sentiment of Hazard, and believes Messi should be crowned 2023 Ballon d'Or winner ahead of his French international teammate Mbappe. "Who won the World Cup? That’s how it often works," he said.
"On top of that, he played an important role in the World Cup so I think the Ballon d’Or will be given to Lionel Messi." Collecting the award in France on Monday evening would be an historic eighth win for Messi, who has more Ballon d'Ors than any other player, with his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo in second with five.
Lionel Messi led Argentina to the World Cup (FIFA via Getty Images)On the back of his World Cup win, Messi left European football after a two-year stint with PSG to join David Beckham's MLS franchise Inter Miami. Despite a hot start from the Argentine, Miami have struggled in recent weeks, eventually ending the regular season second-bottom in the Eastern Conference.
Whilst struggling at club level, it appears his World Cup crowning proved enough to swoop an eighth Ballon d'Or despite facing strong opposition from Haaland and Mbappe. Haaland had been heavily backed to win the award for the first time after leading City to a famous treble in his first year in English football.
The Norwegian international scored an incredible 52 goals in 53 games in all competitions last season, including a record-breaking 36 in the Premier League. Mbappe too staked his claim, finding the net 41 times in the 2022/23 campaign whilst winning a fourth Ligue 1 crown in five years with PSG.