Joe Cole and Joleon Lescott name favourites to win the Ballon d'Or with Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland leading the race for the award
The 2023 Ballon d'Or award ceremony will be held this Monday, October 30, in Paris with Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland the leading candidates for the men's award. Ahead of the ceremony, former Premier League stars Joe Cole and Joleon Lescott have named their favorites to go home with the coveted prize.
Messi made a case for himself by leading his nation to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last year. Haaland, on the other hand, fired Manchester City to a historic treble last season, scoring a staggering 51 goals.
Debating on who should be named the best player in the world for the year, former Man City defender Joleon Lescott threw his support behind Erling Haaland. Speaking to TNT Sports, the pundit explained why the Norwegian striker deserves it.
"There’s been years when Messi has won the treble and scored 50 goals," he said.
"There was never a doubt that he wasn’t going to win and now someone else has done it in a league that’s never been done before. I find it hard to look past Erling Haaland for that reason because he's done it in a league where not many people score 50 goals a season in.
"He's also helped win a treble for a team that's never achieved anything like that before. So for me, that supersedes everything [Messi has achieved] even though I know Joe has a different argument!"
Former Chelsea forward Joe Cole, interjecting, argued that Lionel Messi's World Cup heroics should be enough to steer him to another Ballon d'Or triumph.
"What Messi done at the World Cup and it looks like FIFA, because of the change of the dates, are putting that in this section," Cole said.
"I just think it was the cherry on the cake for probably the outstanding football career we’ve seen. I think it put to bed the Ronaldo-Messi argument."
Apart from winning the World Cup where he bagged seven goals and three assists in seven games, Lionel Messi also had a successful outing at club level. The Argentine led PSG to the Ligue 1 title and the Trophée des Champions last season, recording 21 goals and 20 assists to his name.
Messi has also had an explosive start to life with Inter Miami this summer, scoring goals for fun. Cole believes these exploits should give him the edge. He continued:
"On top of that, he won the league with PSG, scored some massive goals, and then what he’s done for Miami when he’s gone there. If I was Erling Haaland and I don’t win it, I’d be devastated but the only one way I could swallow it is if it’s Messi picking up the trophy."
"I just think that was just outstanding, almost spiritual. The one question people had over Lionel Messi was 'was he a leader?' Forget the goals and the assists, the way he led that team of young players by the way, and he drove them, and there were so many moments where they could’ve been going out," the Englishman added.
Why the World Cup will be influential in deciding Ballon d'Or race between Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland
The World Cup always has a huge impact on who wins the Ballon d'Or every year competition is hosted. This year will be no exception.
Lionel Messi was simply unstoppable in the tournament, scoring in every round and finally delivering the trophy for his country after 36 years. He was named the best player of the competition, having the most goal contribution alongside Kylian Mbappe (10). He became the first player to win the golden ball at the FIFA World Cup.
Unfortunately, Erling Haaland didn't get a chance to compete at the World Cup as Norway failed to qualify for the showpiece event.