Messi picked TWO wonderkids over Bellingham in Ballon d'Or vote

Stuart Telford

• 5 Nov 2023 13:45 GMT
• 3 min read

Lionel Messi and Jude Bellingham got the top men's awards at the recent Ballon d'Or ceremony, but while Bellingham would have voted for Messi if given the chance, the Inter Miami man put two youngsters over Bellingham.

Messi picked up his record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or, controversially beating Manchester City's Erling Haaland to the award.

Messi won the World Cup with Argentina in December, but Haaland had won the continental treble with City, smashing goal records along the way.

READ: Haaland robbed! Messi's Ballon d'Or victory is 'a farce'

Bellingham won the Kopa Trophy as the game's best young player, finishing comfortably ahead of Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala and Messi's former Barcelona teammate Pedri in the voting.

And it has now emerged that Messi voted in the inverse order of the actual result for the U21 players, putting Pedri top and Bellingham third.

Bellingham backed Messi

Only managers and captains of the top 100 national teams per FIFA's World Ranking are eligible to vote, meaning Bellingham wasn't given a say.

But despite being a former Borussia Dortmund teammate of Haaland's, he said he would have given Messi the vote given the chance.

READ: Real Madrid's Bellingham offer 'infinitely inferior' to Man City's

"It's a World Cup year, and Lionel Messi had a fantastic World Cup; he deserves to win the Ballon d'Or," Bellingham said, before thanking those who supported him and promising that "there is more to come."

Bellingham has been in imperious form since swapping Dortmund for Real Madrid in a €103 million transfer in July, hitting 13 goals in 13 games, including a brace in El Clasico against Barcelona.

Messi has also impressed since leaving Paris Saint-Germain for Inter Miami, with 11 goals and five assists in 14 games, which including winning the inaugural Nations Cup in August.

Neither player looks set to move anytime soon, Bellingham recently said he envisages spending the next 10-15 years in Madrid, while Messi has shot down rumours of a return to Barca with Inter missing out on the MLS Playoffs.