The debates will persist, and conspiracy theories will continue to be bandied about, but France Football chose Lionel Messi, as the winner of the 2023 Ballon d’Or for an unprecedented eighth time.
At 35, Messi received the accolade for his pivotal role in leading Argentina to victory in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, an achievement that took him five attempts.
The winner was determined by a panel of one journalist from each of the world’s top 100 countries, based on the FIFA rankings. Messi became the 45th forward to receive this prestigious award out of the 67 winners in history.
