Ronaldinho backs Lionel Messi to win FIFA Ballon d’Or award

Brazilian icon Ronaldinho says that Lionel Messi is a strong bet to win the FIFA Ballon d’Or award in 2023. The Argentine was finally able to achieve his long-standing dream of winning the World Cup by lifting the title in 2022. Argentina were able to overcome France on penalties in the Qatar World Cup. Lionel Messi played a crucial role in this success after coming up with goals at the World Cup. Even though France striker Kylian Mbappe was able to come up with a remarkable hat-trick and pick up the Golden Boot award, it is very unlikely that the striker from a losing team will be granted the FIFA Ballon d’Or award.

Ronaldinho says that even though Messi and Mbappe were both excellent, the performance of the former was particularly exceptional. Ronaldinho is himself a recipient of FIFA Ballon d’Or award titles in the past and he has put his money on Messi being able to beat all other names in the business. Back in 2002, Ronaldinho was able to claim the World Cup title with Brazil. The upcoming FIFA Ballon d’Or award will be extremely close contest with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland and going up against the veteran.

“Because he managed to score two goals in the final and won his first World Cup, I think Messi will win the Ballon d'Or. This will make you go down in history a bit more. Yes, both players [Mbappe and Messi] are exceptional performers. More than living up to high expectations, they have proven once again that they are outstanding players. They enriched this final with their exceptional talent.It was definitely one of the biggest and best endings in history,” said Ronaldinho about the battle for the upcoming FIFA Ballon d’Or award title in 2023.