Lionel Messi Wins 2023 Men's Ballon d'Or; Record-Extending 8th Award

Lionel Messi is a Ballon d'Or winner for the eighth time, extending his record tally for the most coveted individual honor in world soccer.

The Inter Miami star finished ahead of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé in the balloting.

Even fellow contender Jude Bellingham offered his support for the superstar after winning the Kopa Trophy.

"It's World Cup year and Lionel Messi had a fantastic World Cup, he deserves to win the Ballon d'Or," Bellingham said.

Messi's candidacy was propelled largely by Argentina's triumph in the 2022 World Cup. He had seven goals and three assists to earn the Golden Ball as La Albiceleste were world champions for a third time.

That was the crowning achievement in a legendary career, one that allowed him to carve out his own legacy with the national team and move past the longtime comparisons to Diego Maradona. Constantly being measured against Maradona created what was an occasionally fraught dynamic between himself and his compatriots.

Many will question whether Messi was the most deserving contender in the field, though.

His form tailed off in the second half of the 2022-23 season with Paris Saint-Germain, and thanks to a round-of-16 exit in the Champions League, the campaign was widely considered a disappointment for the French side despite winning Ligue 1. Messi was among those singled out by disgruntled supporters for what they considered to be wider issues within PSG.

While the 36-year-old looked rejuvenated after signing with Inter Miami, winning the Leagues Cup and finishing runner-up in the U.S. Open Cup typically aren't the kind of accolades that headline a Ballon d'Or résumé.

Haaland was perhaps the most logical alternative to Messi.

The Norwegian striker had 36 goals in the Premier League in 2022-23 along with 12 in the Champions League, and he's just as prolific to get the 2023-24 season underway. He has 13 goals between the two competitions so far.

Thanks in part to Haaland's efforts, Manchester City became the first English club since rival Manchester United in 1998-99 to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same year.

In most years, all of that together would be more than enough to catapult a player to the Ballon d'Or.

The 23-year-old's time will likely come sooner or later, and the same can be said of Mbappé and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham.

For more than a decade, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo maintained an almost total duopoly for the Ballon d'Or. Ronaldo was the first to win in 2008, and either he or Messi came out on top in all but two of the next 14 years. Luka Modrić (2018) and Karim Benzema (2022) were the exceptions.

That run will probably come to an end for good in 2024. Once it does, the trio of Haaland, Mbappé and Bellingham are all poised to become perennial challengers.