Erling Haaland's reaction to seeing that Messi won the 2023 Ballon d'Or

The wait is over and it's official. Lionel Messi is the new Ballon d'Or 2023. The Argentine attacker managed to have one of the best seasons of his career, but beyond that, what ended up determining everything was the 2022 World Cup that the Argentine attacker had. Lionel Messi finally gave Argentina the third World Cup. However, after meeting the Ballon d'Or winner, what the Argentine player did was surprising.

Lionel Messi had a very memorable season but it was the World Cup that ultimately decided this award. Lionel Messi won his eighth Ballon d'Or at this ceremony and was recognized by many of those present. Erling Haaland did not hesitate to recognize Lionel Messi and stood up from his seat to applaud the footballer, as did Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Vinicius and all the players present.

The dispute for the award was between Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappé and Messi and, in the end, the voters gave it to the captain of the Argentine National Team. Let us remember that the merits that France Football values begin from August 2022 to July 2023. The Argentine footballer received his eighth Ballon d'Or, which continues to extend his record as the highest winner of the award.

How was Lionel Messi's season?

During this time, Lionel Messi finished three collective titles, Ligue 1, the French Cup and the most important, the World Cup. In addition, the Argentine star received seven individual awards including the best player of the World Cup. The Argentine star finished last season with 67 goals and assists (1 more than the Norwegian forward), in addition to creating 153 scoring opportunities during games. After this situation, the Norwegian forward did not hesitate to recognize Messi at the ceremony, as well as other footballers in the current season. In fact, Haaland's teammates at Manchester City shared that the Argentine deserved to win the award.