Lionel Messi has won France football’s Ballon d’Or eight times, making him the only player in history to achieve such a feat.
Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has been ignored by Nigeria in the Ballon d’Or voting, reports Soccernet.ng.
The 24-year-old Napoli striker has been nominated for one of football’s biggest individual awards after helping Napoli win their first league title in over 30 years.
The Nigerian player scored 26 goals in the league and assisted four more goals for his teammates. In doing so, he earned his Serie A Golden Boots and helped his team reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League last season.
Former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain player Leo Messi has won the award for the eighth time in his career, following a season in which he won French Ligue 1 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina.
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Erling Haaland scored the most goals in Europe last season, finishing a close second after winning the treble with Josep Guardiola’s impressive Manchester City side.
Osimhen finished 8th, becoming the first Nigerian to be ranked in the world’s top 10 soccer players. In doing so, he broke Nwankwo’s Kanu record, which was his 11th place 26 years earlier.
The winner of this award is normally determined by a vote of media representatives from the top 100 countries in the FIFA Men’s World Rankings (excluding one representative from each country).
Fabrizio Romano‘s results revealed that Nigeria will vote for Lionel I chose it as. Not his compatriot Victor Osimhen, but Messi.
🏆 Leo Messi won the Ballon d’Or over Erling Haaland by 105 points.
Leo Messi – 462 points
Erling Haaland – 357 points… Here is the complete list of votes by country: 🌍🗳️
🇿🇦 South Africa: Messi🇦🇱 Albania: Messi
🇩🇿 Algeria: Haaland
🇩🇪 Germany: Messi
🏴xnxxxnxxxnxxxnxxxnxxxnxx England: Messi
🇸 🇦… pic.twitter.com/IeXwbESkIQ– Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) 4. November 2023
Messi received the most votes and ended up with 462 points. He finished second with a 115 point difference to Erling Haaland, who is arguably the greatest soccer player on the planet.
On the continent, Osimhen has been nominated for the CAF Player of the Year award, with the final winner to be awarded on December 11, 2023 in Marrakech, Morocco.
