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  • Date Created John Steed
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The post provides a thorough overview of the Ballon d'Or winners and some context around their achievements, but it could be more concise. It effectively informs the community but lacks some original commentary or insights to enhance engagement.

John Steed Contributor
Lionel Messi and Aitana Bonmati have won the 2023 Ballon d'Or awards.

Messi, 36, captained Argentina to a 2022 World Cup triumph and won the 2022-23 Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain, securing his record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or at the ceremony in Paris on Monday.

Bonmati, 25, had an outstanding year for club and country, winning the 2022-23 Liga F and Champions League with Barcelona and the 2023 World Cup with Spain.

Manchester City's Erling Haaland finished second and PSG's Kylian Mbappe finished third in the men's voting, while Sam Kerr and Salma Paralluelo came second and third respectively in the women's award.

Messi, who joined Inter Miami this summer from Paris Saint-Germain, had already won the men's top individual prize in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021. The former Barcelona man has been honoured again after claiming a previously elusive World Cup last winter, in which he won the Golden Ball — awarded to the tournament's best player — after scoring seven goals in seven games. Messi stretches further clear of Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won five Ballons d'Or but did not make the shortlist this year for the first time since 2003.

Messi also became the first active Major League Soccer player to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or since Inter Miami owner David Beckham, who made the shortlist in 2007, three months after joining LA Galaxy from Real Madrid.

Bonmati also won the Golden Ball award at the World Cup earlier this year, as well as the UEFA Women's player of the year and Champions League player of the season awards for last season.

During the 2022-23 campaign, the midfielder scored 19 goals in 37 matches across all competitions for Barcelona as they won their fourth Liga F title in a row and secured a second Champions League triumph. She also netted three times at the World Cup.

Jude Bellingham, meanwhile, won the Kopa Trophy — the award for the best under-21 player. Bellingham excelled during the 2022-23 season for Bundesliga runners-up Borussia Dortmund and England, earning a move to Real Madrid over the summer.

Emiliano Martinez won the Yashine Trophy, given to the best goalkeeper of the season. The Aston Villa stopper won the Golden Glove as Argentina won the World Cup last year.

Ballon d'Or top 25s​

Men​

  1. Lionel Messi (PSG, Inter Miami & Argentina)
  2. Erling Haaland (Manchester City & Norway)
  3. Kylian Mbappe (PSG & France)
  4. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City & Belgium)
  5. Rodri (Manchester City & Spain)
  • Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid & Brazil)
  • Julian Alvarez (Manchester City & Argentina)
  • Victor Osimhen (Napoli & Nigeria)
  • Bernardo Silva (Manchester City & Portugal)
  • Luka Modric (Real Madrid & Croatia)
  • Mohamed Salah (Liverpool & Egypt)
  • Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona & Poland)
  • Yassine Bounou (Sevilla, Al Hilal & Morocco)
  • Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City, Barcelona & Germany)
  • Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa & Argentina)
  • Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, Al Ittihad & France)
  • Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli & Georgia)
  • Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid & England)
  • Harry Kane (Spurs, Bayern Munich & England)
  • Lautaro Martinez (Inter & Argentina)
  • Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid & France)
  • Kim Min-jae (Napoli, Bayern Munich & South Korea)
  • Andre Onana (Inter, Manchester United & Cameroon)
  • Bukayo Saka (Arsenal & England)
  • Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig, Manchester City & Croatia)

Women​

  1. Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona & Spain)
  2. Sam Kerr (Chelsea & Australia)
  3. Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona & Spain)
  4. Fridolina Rolfo (Barcelona & Sweden)
  5. Mary Earps (Manchester United & England)
  • Olga Carmona (Real Madrid & Spain)
  • Alexandra Popp (Wolfsburg & Germany)
  • Patricia Guijarro (Barcelona & Spain)
  • Linda Caicedo (Real Madrid & Colombia)
  • Rachel Daly (Aston Villa & England)
  • Millie Bright (Chelsea & England)
  • Hinata Miyazawa (Manchester United, MyNavi Sendai & Japan)
  • Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg & Germany)
  • Kadidiatou Diani (PSG & Lyon, France)
  • Amanda Ilestedt (Arsenal, PSG & Sweden)
  • Mapi Leon (Barcelona & Spain)
  • Hayley Raso (Real Madrid, Manchester City & Australia)
  • Ewa Pajor (Wolfsburg & Poland)
  • Guro Reiten (Chelsea & Norway)
  • Asisat Oshoala (Barcelona & Nigeria)
  • Alba Redondo (Levante & Spain)
  • Katie McCabe (Arsenal & Republic of Ireland
  • Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich & England)
  • Khadija Shaw (Manchester City & Jamaica)
  • Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns & U.S.)
 
Tom Rising Star

Tom

I've seen a lot of comments online saying he didn't deserve to win this year but you can't really argue with it, it was always going to happen when he won the World Cup and although he wasn't elite at PSG he still contributed a fair number of goals and assists.

Bonmati was the standout player in the women's game last year again capped by the World Cup win.
 
David76 Rising Star
Messi, at 35 years old, led a nation to the World Cup and was the sole driving force of their attack. He produced moments of magic that won Argentina the World Cup and he won the Golden Ball. He was a massive favourite with the bookies. Everyone knew who deserved to, and who was going to win. It was a very obvious win.
 
Dylan Proficient
Yeah, when Argentina won the World Cup there was always only going to be one winner and I don't see anything wrong with that.

The only real rival to Messi was Haaland who had a remarkable season with Man City.

The number of votes the top 10 received have been revealed

  1. Lionel Messi - 462 points
  2. Erling Haaland - 357 points
  3. Kylian Mbappe - 270 points
  4. Kevin De Bruyne - 100 points
  5. Rodri - 57 points
  6. Vinicius Jr - 49 points
  7. Julian Alvarez - 28 points
  8. Victor Osimhen - 24 points
  9. Bernado Silva - 20 points
  10. Luka Modric - 19 points
 
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