Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario has named the player he believes deserves to win the 2023 Ballon d’Or award.The Ballon d’Or will now be awarded based on performances over the season, rather than the calendar year.The current season stretches from August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023. The ceremony will take place at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on October 30, while the nominees will be announced on September 6.After inspiring Argentina to their first World Cup title since 1986 in December, Lionel Messi became the firm favourite to win the prestigious individual accolade.The 35-year-old, who will leave Paris Saint-Germain for Inter Miami this summer, finally achieved his life-long ambition of becoming a world champion in his fifth (and presumably) final World Cup.
However, Messi now faces competition from Manchester City duo Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, who have won the treble (Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League) with Manchester City.Two more City players, Ilkay Gundogan and Julian Alvarez (who won the World Cup alongside Messi), might also be in the mix
Other contenders outside of Man City include Kylian Mbappe, who became only the second player in history to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final, and Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior.
Who does Ronaldo think deserves to win the 2023 Ballon d'Or?
Despite the competition, though, Ronaldo believes that Messi is the player who deserves it most due to his remarkable World Cup campaign in Qatar.
Per @AlbicelesteTalk, Ronaldo said: “Messi deserves to win the Ballon d’Or. I think he will be crowned.
“He won the World Cup, which is a very big tournament.”
While some football fans believe that Messi hasn’t done enough at club level this season to warrant a record-breaking eighth Ballon d’Or award, it’s clear that Ronaldo doesn’t share that opinion.
One of the greatest strikers of all time, Ronaldo bumped into Messi at FIFA’s The Best awards in February.
The former Brazil international told Messi: “Congratulations for the World Cup, how beautiful, eh?”
“You deserve it. I’m very happy for you…”
An intense rivalry exists between Brazil and Argentina - especially when it comes to football - but it’s clear that Ronaldo has a huge amount of respect and admiration for the Argentine regarded by many as the greatest player of all time.