Messi won him the Ballon d'Or and what Haaland thinks of him, surprises CR7

The awards ceremonies in the world of soccer have become, for some years now, events that cause a lot of controversy, because no matter who wins, there are always those who think that someone else should have won. However, in 2023, one of the most controversial decisions of recent years took place at the Ballon d'Or awards ceremony when Lionel Messi won his eighth award.

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The Argentine star arrived with the World Cup under his arm and that ended up being the decisive factor for him to win his eighth Ballon d'Or. However, Erling Haaland, Manchester City's Norwegian striker, had had a fantastic season with his club, winning the Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. In addition, Haaland had broken the record for most goals in a single season in the English league and most impressively in his debut season.

Therefore, many believed that the Ballon d'Or in 2023 should go to Haaland as he had more collective and individual achievements than Lionel Messi himself. Also, many believed that the same criteria would be applied as in 2011 when Xavi Hernandez and Iniesta had just won the World Cup, but in the end what Messi achieved individually and with Barcelona outweighed what he achieved.

Given this, ahead of the Champions League round of 16 second leg between Manchester City and København, Haaland was questioned on whether he believes he will have to wait for Messi to retire before he can win a Ballon d'Or. "Good question! I don't know. He's won the World Cup," he replied.

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Haaland's statement that surprised CR7

In response to the question he was asked, Erling Haaland also answered that in his opinion, the Argentine star is the best of all time. "Messi is the best has ever played, I think", he assured. In this way, the Norwegian positions himself in the debate of who is better between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and has chosen the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner.