Messi opens up on his Ballon d'Or contest with Haaland
FOOTBALL Messi opens up on his Ballon d'Or contest with Haaland

Messi opens up on his Ballon d'Or contest with Haaland

Faruq Ibrahim • 08:32 - 18.08.2023

Messi talks about what winning the World Cup makes him feel about the Ballon d'Or.

Lionel Messi is perceptibly in a direct shootout with Manchester City's Erling Haaland for the Ballon d'Or, and the Argentine has now spoken about the possibility of winning the much-coveted award.  

Messi and Haaland in Ballon d'Or tussle 

The Norwegian star put himself in the race thanks to the devastating fashion in which he went about goal-scoring last season, scoring 52 goals in all competitions.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.co.ke/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

His goals also helped Manchester City win their first-ever Champions League title while becoming only the second Premier League club to win the treble of the League, UCL, and FA Cup.

Messi, on the other hand, had a less stellar club season, winning Ligue 1 but crashing out of the French Cup and Champions League.  

The World Cup, however, where the former Barcelona man put up a player of the tournament performance, is why he is in the conversation.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.co.ke/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Messi led the Albiceleste to only her third World Cup title while leading the competition in assists, and only behind France's Kylian Mbappe in goals.  

What Messi said 

As is on brand with the Inter Miami star, Messi explains that he is not thinking about the Ballon d'Or, and although he will be happy to win it, he does not lose sleep over it, as he has achieved the biggest prize football has to offer, the World Cup. 

‘You can imagine that after winning the World Cup, which was the only thing I was missing, I’m much less thinking about the Ballon d’Or,” he said, per Bleacher Report.

 “The World Cup was my biggest prize, now I am enjoying the moment and honestly I don’t think about it. If I win it, nice, and if I don’t then nothing happens.”

Related content

Tags:
Lionel Messi Erling Braut Haaland