The (Un-) Worthiest of Winners

Earlier this week, France Football presented the annual Ballon d’Or awards, recognising the best male and female footballers over the 2022/23 season. Ever since FIFA and France Football decided not to continue with the partnership (from 2010 to 2015 the award was officially called the FIFA Ballon d’Or), there have been some controversial winners. That was more of the case this year as well. With that in mind, in this week’s post I’ll go through some of the winners from this year’s ceremony and explain whether I think they were worthy or unworthy of their prizes.

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Ballon d’Or: Lionel Messi

Messi is the greatest footballer I’ve seen in my lifetime, period. Even at 36, he is still a magician on the pitch. The one thing that was always hanging over his head was the lack of success at international level. Sure, he won the Copa America in 2021 but for his biggest critics, that wasn’t enough. He had to led Argentina to World Cup glory. And that’s exactly what he did. His performances in Qatar were special (specifically that final for the ages). However, as great a story as it was, to me, he shouldn’t have won the award.

It seems like with the Ballon d’Or (and some of the others), more emphasis is placed on certain achievements than others, for example the World Cup. I look at a player like Erling Haaland, who achieved football immortality by winning the treble with City, as well as winning the PFA and FWA Player of the Year, scoring 56 goals for club and country. Do I think Haaland is a better player than Messi? No, I don’t. But that’s not what this is about. It’s about who was the best player during a particular period, and for me, that was Erling Haaland. I can’t say I’m mad that Messi won it, I just think the narrative behind him worked in his favour.

Verdict: unworthy

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Ballon d’Or Féminin: Aitana Bonmatí

I did my research on Bonmatí just to make sure I got my facts right and I must say, she had one hell of a season. Similarly with Messi, she was the star player for Spain as they were crowned Women’s World Cup winners in Australia & New Zealand, winning the Golden Ball for her performances during the tournament. Before a ball was kicked, Spain weren’t considered as one of the favourites, but through spirit and determination, they reached the pinnacle of international football.

Not only that, but she also had a hugely successful club season, winning La Liga and the Champions League with Barcelona. So unlike Messi, one could argue that she was equally as successful with her club as she was with her country. When you take all of that into account, I don’t really think there’s that much of an argument to say she wasn’t the right winner. Honourable mentions should go to players like Sam Kerr (who won the domestic double with Chelsea) and Mary Earps (Golden Glove Winner at the World Cup by the way) as they both were pivotal to the fortunes of their respective teams over the course of last year. However, Bonmatí was the right winner for this award.

Verdict: worthy

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Kopa Trophy: Jude Bellingham

We as football fans are probably running out of words to describe this man’s talent. You’ve heard me say it several times; English players tend to be some of the most overhyped players in the world. We’ve seen it time and time again, but with Bellingham, this doesn’t seem like the case. Even at his young age, his game has a level of polish and maturity that you don’t tend to see from players in the infancy of their careers. But this is no normal young player now, is it?

Although his performances at Madrid wouldn’t have been considered for this prize, his start to life in Spain has been sensational: El Clasico double, last-minute winners, MOTM performances. It’s not an exaggeration to say that he has carried Madrid so far. But I digress, he won the Kopa Trophy based on his last season at Dortmund, where if it wasn’t for one of the biggest bottle jobs in recent memory, he would have led them to their first Bundesliga since 2012. We’re blessed to able to see some many talent youngsters hone their craft, the likes of Jamal Musiala, Pedri, Gavi. But right at this moment, Bellingham might just the cream of the crop. The sky is the limit, and who knows what’s still to come.

Verdict: worthy

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Yashin Trophy: Emiliano Martinez

Again, I feel like those that have voted for this honour have been swayed by the World Cup. We can’t deny that if it wasn’t for that one-on-one save Emi Martinez made to deny Kolo Muani at the end of extra-time in the final, Argentina don’t come back from Qatar as World Champions. He also had a pretty good season for Aston Villa, helping them qualify for the Europa Conference League, Villa’s first foray into Europe since 2010. But again, I must ask, during the 2022/23 season, was he the best keeper? To me, he wasn’t.

Look at Ederson. He won the treble with City and conceded the fewest goals in the league as well. If you ask me to compare each keeper’s seasons, treble winner vs World Cup winner, only one keeper comes out on top and that isn’t the Argentine. We must be careful of how the winners are selected as we don’t want to fall into the habit of other sports (for example, the NBA) where the narrative or the story behind the player influences voters far too much. I like Martinez, I think he’s a good keeper, just not the best keeper over the last year.

Verdict: unworthy

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This Week’s Hot Take

I don’t how the specific voting works, but I feel that the votes of the coaches and players should have more influence than those from journalists. Those that play the game or manage are less likely to subscribe to the notion that the Ballon d’Or is a popularity contest. Obviously, they’ll want their teammates, players or fellow countrymen to do well, but not at the detriment of the integrity of the award. Journalists on the other hand like a story and so they’ll probably vote for the player that has the best story going into the ceremony.