Lionel Messi is a hot favorite to land a record eight Ballon d’Or ahead of the official ceremony on 30 October. However, some major news outlets are already declaring him as the winner after new details from France.
Every year the Ballon d’Or is presented by France Football, a weekly magazine established in 1946. It has been presented the prestigious award to the best soccer player of the year for more than six decades. As part of the buildup of the event, the French newspaper, L’Équipe conducts a poll among the fans to gauge the favorite leading up to the event.
Just like every year, the poll was conducted, and the result has been heavily in favor of Lionel Messi. The Argentine won 49.1% of the total votes on the poll. It is to be noted that the site of the poll doesn’t indicate what percentage of votes were in favor of other competitors like Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, and Kevin de Bruyne.
🚨🚨🌕| 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: Lionel Messi has WON the 2023 Ballon D’Or. @sport ✨🐐 pic.twitter.com/xPS3ue58Wh
— Managing Barça (@ManagingBarca) October 17, 2023
However, it was enough for publishers like Sport and fan accounts of Lionel Messi to declare him the official winner of the accolade before the official event. Comments like “Ronaldo fans tears??,” “It has been official since 18-12-2022,” “No surprise here,” and “Tell me something I don’t know,” echoed the excitement of the fans hearing the announcements.
Lionel Messi has been touted as the favorite due to his exploits with Argentina in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The little Argentine led his country to triumph with seven goals and three assists in seven appearances. He also won the Golden Ball for being the best player in the tournament.
How does the Ballon d’Or process work?
The fan poll results provide a good opportunity to discuss how the Ballon d’Or is awarded, and which criteria are used to judge the players around the world. The fan vote will not be used to decide the winner, however, it can be indicative of what to expect at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris during the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
The rules for the award were altered in 2021. The award no longer considers the stats and achievements of a calendar year but rather focuses on traditional season-per-season performances. A pool of 30 candidates is shortlisted by editors of France Football.
HERE ARE ALL THE BALLON D’OR NOMINEES! 🌕✨#ballondor pic.twitter.com/hg1ZByzhDV
— Ballon d’Or #ballondor (@ballondor) September 6, 2023
A group of international journalists and captains from FIFA’s top-ranked 100 nations voted to select their top five from the 30. Points are awarded to each on a weighted points basis system, in which the top pick receives six points and the fifth pick gets a single point.
All the points awarded to each player are summed up to narrow the list down to get to the winner of the accolade. The process had its pros and cons, and some winners are marked with controversies, however, the accolade hasn’t lost its value among soccer enthusiasts.