Messi vs Mbappe: 2023 Ballon d’Or to be decided by World Cup final

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 24 Jan 2023 12:03 GMT
• 3 min read

The 2023 Ballon d’Or 2023 will be decided on Sunday, when Kylian Mbappe’s France tackle Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final.

It may be early in the year for such a major individual prize to be decided, but the nature of Ballon d’Or voting means that it would take an extraordinary performance to deny a major player at Qatar 2022 the gong.

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With two of football’s box office stars both in the final and both having performed to an outstanding level, one must win the prize.

Messi and Mbappe go into the final the leading contenders to win the Golden Boot. Both are one five goals, with the Argentine having a marginal lead as he has one additional assist. Furthermore, they have been the two outstanding players at the competition, with Messi the favourite to win the Golden Ball.

Messi or Mbappe to make history

Furthermore, Sunday’s winner will write themselves into the history books. Should Messi’s Argentina emerge on top, there will be nothing more that he can achieve in the game on a team basis, while Mbappe will be the youngest player since Pele in 1962 to win two World Cups – coincidentally the last time that a team defended the title.

Both players have compelling cases not only in terms of their performances, but in terms of the narrative surrounding the competition, then.

If it is Argentina who come out on top, Messi will claim his eighth Ballon d’Or – three more than Cristiano Ronaldo, who lies second on the all-time list of winners. On the other hand, if France come out on top, it will definitely signal a new era in football, with Messi and Ronaldo passing the baton on to the next generation.

Of course, the Ballon d’Or is a secondary consideration on Sunday behind the World Cup trophy, yet the Messi-Mbappe subplot adds another layer of intrigue into the match.>