BALLON D'OR
Messi vs. Mbappe Part II: World Cup stars and clubmates chase Ballon d’Or
Lionel Messi finally has something Kylian Mbappé already had with a World Cup winners’ medal. Now Mbappé wants what Messi has won many times: the Ballon d’Or.
After their fascinating duel in a wild World Cup final, the tournament’s best player Messi and its top scorer Mbappé are firm front-runners to win the next men’s Ballon d’Or.
Call it Messi vs. Mbappé part II, and it continues Wednesday when the Paris Saint-Germain teammates face Angers in a French league game. Messi was given an extended break back home in Argentina after the World Cup, but has resumed full training and PSG coach Christophe Galtier hopes he’ll be ready to play.
Because they play for the same team, their rivalry could intensify over the rest of this season.
The 35-year-old Messi has won a record seven Ballon d’Or trophies given to the best player in Europe. Only five Frenchmen — including Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema — have won it but the 24-year-old Mbappé has never been on the podium.
Mbappe made his goals clear while at the ceremony when Benzema won: “For me, of course it’s an objective to win one or many of them. But of course there’s a process to reach that. I think I’m on the right track.”
A challenger this time could be prolific Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, but he didn’t play at the World Cup — let alone star in it — after Norway failed to qualify.
Mbappé won the 2018 World Cup with France when he was just 19. Messi waited agonizingly long to get his hands on the Jules Rimet trophy, losing in the 2014 final. He did so in style last month, when Argentina beat France to win its third World Cup title in arguably the most intense final in the tournament’s 92-year history.
Messi’s two goals in the final capped a remarkable tournament where he scored seven times, finished as the best player, and reached a whopping 98 goals overall for Argentina.
The good news for Argentina fans is that he wants to play a little while longer wearing the Albiceleste jersey.
Mbappé, meanwhile, became only the second player to score a hat trick in a World Cup final and finished one ahead of Messi on eight goals as tournament’s top scorer — the first to reach that haul since Brazil’s Ronaldo in 2002.
Mbappé’s overall tally of 12 World Cup goals puts him level with Brazil great Pelé — and one behind Messi and Frenchman Just Fontaine, the single-tournament record holder with 13 in 1958.
Former West Germany striker Gerd Mueller (14), Ronaldo (15) and record holder Miroslav Klose of Germany (16) are well within Mbappé’s sights considering the young Frenchman may have three more World Cups ahead of him.
By the 2026 World Cup, Mbappé should also be well in front as France’s all-time leading men’s scorer. He currently has 36 goals and World Cup teammate Olivier Giroud leads Les Bleus with 53.
By the time the next World Cup comes around, Messi will be nearly 39 and perhaps retired from soccer altogether.
So the coast is clear for Mbappé to pulverize World Cup scoring records.
But before he starts thinking about that he has the pressing matter of a first Ballon d’Or to win, and it’s a tall order with Messi as his main rival. But what a treat in store for French soccer fans if they both keep raising their game.
Mbappé played for PSG 10 days after losing the final in Qatar, showing great determination to put that defeat behind him.
The Ballon d’Or race has the makings of a classic contest between the teammates, since they were both in fine form for PSG before heading to the World Cup.
Mbappé tops the league scoring charts with 13 goals and Messi is tied with PSG teammate Neymar for the most assists (10). Mbappé is co-top scorer in the Champions League with seven goals, while Messi again heads the assists chart with four.
Messi won the Champions League four times with former club Barcelona, where he became a superstar and scored 672 goals before joining PSG last season.
PSG has never won the Champions League and this could prove a key factor in Ballon d’Or consideration — especially if Mbappé leads the French giant to the European title.
If Messi doesn’t play Wednesday at home, PSG’s next game is at Rennes on Sunday.
“He had an extraordinary World Cup with a lot of physical effort and challenges,” Galtier said. ”We hope he’s ready for (Angers).”
-AFP
England captain Harry Kane sees a real chance of winning the next Ballon d’Or award for the best player in the world but knows securing silverware with Bayern Munich would be key to fulfilling that dream.
The 31-year-old striker, England’s all-time leading goalscorer, has scored 32 goals and provided 11 assists in 37 appearances across all competitions this season for Bayern, helping the German giants top the Bundesliga table and book a place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
While no English player has won the Ballon d’Or since former Liverpool striker Michael Owen in 2001, Kane believes his chance of winning soccer’s top individual award has been boosted by his August 2023 move from Tottenham Hotspur to Bayern.
“Just being at a club like Bayern Munich has helped push me on even more, confidence-wise and responsibility-wise,” Kane told reporters ahead of Friday’s FIFA World Cup European qualifier against Albania.
“I feel like I’ve definitely got better, I’ve improved, and maybe the ‘aura’ of me as a player is a bit more respected than what it has been in the past, because you’re playing in big games, big nights.
“That’s probably what I mean in terms of being respected more worldwide, on the bigger stage. For something like that, you have to win enough team trophies to be considered in that and probably score 40-odd goals, but that is a possibility this season.”
Kane said his goal-scoring feats are not always appreciated but he remains motivated as ever.
“It’s like when (Cristiano) Ronaldo and (Lionel) Messi were throwing these crazy numbers out there and the next season they’d score 40 goals instead of 50. It was like they were having a bad season,” Kane said.
“People take it for granted and maybe a little bit with England as well. I’ve scored 69 goals and when you score against Albania or Latvia, or these teams, people just expect it so it’s not spoken about so much.
“If I was 25 now and doing what I’m doing, the excitement around me would maybe be a little bit different to what it is now. That’s part of where we are with football … Maybe people just get a little bit bored of what you do, but I’m certainly not bored. I’m excited for these games and the games ahead.”
-Reuters
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A member of the Ballon d’Or panel has admitted he forgot to vote for Vinicius Jr.
His error contributed to the loss by the more popular Vinicius who was edged by Manchester City’s Rodrigo Hernandez.
For his error, the journalist Juha Kanerva, who works for a publication in Finland, Ilta-Sanomat, has resigned.
Kanerva failed to include Vinicius in his top ten despite the winger enjoying a stellar year in which he helped Real Madrid win the UEFA Champions League.
According to UK publication, Daily Mail, a Real Madrid fan pointed out that Kanerva was one of only three journalists not to include Vinicius in his top ten.
He wrote: ‘This was my technical fault, for which I take responsibility. I am leaving my place as Ballon d’Or selector.’
According to France Football, the other two journalists that didn’t include Vinicius in their top ten were Bruno Porzio of El Salvador and Sheefeni Nikodemus from Namibia.
Journalists from 99 different countries submitted votes, with Syria abstaining from doing so.
As reported by Marca, Kanerva chose Rodri as his Ballon d’Or winner followed by Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham.
William Saliba, Ademola Lookman and Dani Carvajal were amongst the players that were included in his top ten.
Vinicius was absent from the ceremony in Paris after being informed that he wouldn’t win, with his Real Madrid team-mates also snubbing the event.
These were the votes given by the Finnish journalist for the 2024 Ballon d’Or:
- Rodrigo Hernandez: 15 points
- Erling Haaland: 12 points
- Jude Bellingham: 10 points
- Toni Kroos: 8 points
- Florian Wirtz: 7 points
- Declan Rice: 5 points
- Lamine Yamal: 4 points
- William Saliba: 3 points
- Ademola Lookman: 2 points
- Dani Carvajal: 1 point
List of Ballon d’Or winners since the award’s inception in 1956 after Rodri was named 2024 winner on Monday.
1956 – Stanley Matthews (England)
1957 – Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain)
1958 – Raymond Kopa (France)
1959 – Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain)
1960 – Luis Suarez (Spain)
1961 – Omar Sivori (Italy)
1962 – Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia)
1963 – Lev Yashin (Soviet Union)
1964 – Denis Law (Scotland)
1965 – Eusebio (Portugal)
1966 – Bobby Charlton (England)
1967 – Florian Albert (Hungary)
1968 – George Best (Northern Ireland)
1969 – Gianni Rivera (Italy)
1970 – Gerd Mueller (West Germany)
1971 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
1972 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
1973 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
1974 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
1975 – Oleg Blokhin (Soviet Union)
1976 – Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany)
1977 – Allan Simonsen (Denmark)
1978 – Kevin Keegan (England)
1979 – Kevin Keegan (England)
1980 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany)
1981 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany)
1982 – Paolo Rossi (Italy)
1983 – Michel Platini (France)
1984 – Michel Platini (France)
1985 – Michel Platini (France)
1986 – Igor Belanov (Soviet Union)
1987 – Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)
1988 – Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
1989 – Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
1990 – Lothar Matthaus (Germany)
1991 – Jean-Pierre Papin (France)
1992 – Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
1993 – Roberto Baggio (Italy)
1994 – Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
1995 – George Weah (Liberia)
1996 – Matthias Sammer (Germany)
1997 – Ronaldo (Brazil)
1998 – Zinedine Zidane (France)
1999 – Rivaldo (Brazil)
2000 – Luis Figo (Portugal)
2001 – Michael Owen (England)
2002 – Ronaldo (Brazil)
2003 – Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic)
2004 – Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)
2005 – Ronaldinho (Brazil)
2006 – Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
2007 – Kaka (Brazil)
2008 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
2009 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
2010 – Lionel Messi (Argentina) *
2011 – Lionel Messi (Argentina) *
2012 – Lionel Messi (Argentina) *
2013 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) *
2014 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) *
2015 – Lionel Messi (Argentina) *
2016 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
2017 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
2018 – Luka Modric (Croatia)
2019 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
2020 – Award Cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic)
2021 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
2022 – Karim Benzema (France)
2023 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
2024 – Rodri (Spain)
* From 2010-2015 the Ballon d’Or was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year to create the FIFA Ballon d’Or award.
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