Lionel Messi wins 2023 Ballon d'Or; World Cup winner becomes first active MLS player to take home prize (2024)

Lionel Messi wins it!

As we all suspected -- Lionel Messi wins his eighth Ballon d'Or title in Paris. The legendary Argentinian is celebrating once again after being reunited with once of his most-won pieces of silverware. The FIFA 2022 World Cup success with Argentina in Qatar has ensured the Inter Miami man another slice of individual history on top of the greatest collective triumph of his storied career.

Men's top 5:

1 - Inter Miami's Lionel Messi.

2 - Manchester City's Erling Haaland.

3 - PSG's Kylian Mbappe.

4 - Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.

5 - Manchester City's Rodri.

Women's Ballon d'Or

We have our winner in the women's Ballon d'Or and it is Barcelona and Spain's Aitana Bonmati! That is three consecutive years for Barca after Alexia Putellas in 2021 and 2022.

Top 5:

1 - Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati.

2 - Chelsea's Sam Kerr.

3 - Barcelona's Salma Paralleulo.

4 - Barcelona's Fridolina Rolfo.

5 - Manchester United's Mary Earps.

Gerd Muller and Men's Club award

Manchester City's Erling Haaland wins the Gerd Muller trophy for his outstanding performances in front of goal. A UEFA Champions League winner with Pep Guardiola's monstrous City, will we be seeing the Norwegian superstar celebrating anything else later this evening?

Haaland's club side City have been crowned men's club of the year after a superb season which saw them win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup titles. It is also consecutive titles for Pep Guardiola's men after last year's success.

Women's club of the year and Yashin award

A little piece of history is made as FC Barcelona Femeni is named the inaugural Women's Club of the Year! Expect to see the Catalan delegation celebrating again before the night is out. What a season it was with a Liga F and Champions League double and a number of World Cup winners with Spain as well.

There is also further success for Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez who will take home the Yashin award with the Argentina international's father joining him onstage in an emotional moment for the 2022 World Cup hero. He finished ahead of Ederson and Yassine Bounou in the rankings.

Women's top 10

1 - Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati.

2 - Chelsea's Sam Kerr.

3 - Barcelona's Salma Paralleulo.

4 - Barcelona's Fridolina Rolfo.

5 - Manchester United's Mary Earps.

6 - Real Madrid's Olga Carmona.

7 - Wolfsburg's Alexandra Popp.

8 - Barcelona's Patricia Guijarro.

9 - Real Madrid's Linda Caicedo.

10 - Aston Villa's Rachel Daly.

Men's top 10

1 - Inter Miami's Lionel Messi.

2 - Manchester City's Erling Haaland.

3 - PSG's Kylian Mbappe.

4 - Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.

5 - Manchester City's Rodri.

6 - Real Madrid's Vini Jr.

7 - Manchester City's Julian Alvarez.

8 - Napoli's Victor Osimhen.

9 - Manchester City's Bernardo Silva.

10 - Real Madrid's Luka Modric.

Vini Jr. gets the Socrates Award

Our next prize is up and it is the Socrates Award which goes to Real Madrid and Brazil's Vinicius Junior for his work founding Instituto Vini Jr while Real teammate Luka Modric gets added to the men's top 10 in 10th position.

"It is really upsetting to always talk about racism, but I am prepared to always be able to speak when necessary because I am ready to fight for the children and I hope that all the players can help us in this cause," said Vini Jr. "It is very sad to always have to talk about racism. I love talking about football, about the great players that are here tonight. It is very sad. I ask you for strength to continue the fight. And may the children of the future suffer less."

Bellingham wins Kopa trophy

We have our first award of the evening! Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham wins the Kopa trophy after Kylian Mbappe, Matthijs de Ligt, Pedri and Gavi. Will the England international be back next year for a bigger prize? What a couple of months it has been for Bellingham since joining the Spanish giants from Borussia Dortmund. Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala and Barca's Pedri completed this year's top three.

Messi arrives

One of the moments that everybody has been waiting for as Lionel Messi arrives in Paris! The legendary Argentinian international arrives as a seven-time winner, but will he leave as an eight-time champion? We are about to find out. Elsewhere, Inter Miami colleague David Beckham has checked in and France head coach Didier Deschamps has also made his way inside. PSG and Les Bleus star Kylian Mbappe has also walked down the red carpet ahead of the ceremony.

Big hitters in the house

The big names like Erling Haaland and his Manchester City teammates are now at the Ballon d'Or ceremony in Paris with the Norwegian giant expected to place well overall. The Barcelona delegation is also in place while UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has also been spotted on the red carpet. Even the legendary Novak Djokovic has made it in for the event!

Meanwhile...

All of these names might have been dropping into place just outside the top 10, but the stars have started to arrive in Paris with some of the biggest names in soccer starting to grace the red carpet. It is like the soccer version of the Oscars so expect everybody who is anybody in soccer royalty to show their faces at some point dressed in their absolute best. Djibril Cisse was not one to miss an opportunity to dress for the occasion as a player and tonight has been no different as a host with the red carpet opened by the flamboyant former striker.

Numbers 15-11

Now we edge closer to the top 10 with Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez after his heroics with Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar as well as key role in the Villans' turnaround under Unai Emery. Joining the South American is Champions League-winning former City captain Ilkay Gundogan and Moroccan World Cup hero Yassine Bounou of Al Hilal. Then in parachutes Barcelona's Polish hitman Robert Lewandowski and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah as we close on the final and confirmed top 10.

11 - Liverpool's Mohamed Salah.

12 - Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski.

13 - Al Hilal's Yassine Bounou.

14 - Barcelona's Ilkay Gundogan.

15 - Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez.

Holder Karim Benzema drops to 16th

Probably the biggest story of the night so far in terms of rankings is that defending titleholder Karim Benzema has gone from first to 16th in the space of 12 months. The former France international has taken a tumble after a year which saw him miss the World Cup and fail to win La Liga and the Champions League with serial contenders Real Madrid. A big money move to Saudi Arabia followed with Benzema now turning out for Al-Ittihad at 35 years of age.

Numbers 20-16

Here come some more names for you with Inter's World Cup winner Lautaro Martinez the next up after helping the Italians to last season's Champions League final. Then there are England pair Harry Kane of Bayern Munich and Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid. Given his chances in the Kopa category, it is unlikely to be the former Borussia Dortmund man's last mention of the evening. Also, could he back with his eyes on a bigger prize this time next year? Then there is Napoli's Georgian sensation Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and last year's defending champion Karim Benzema who is now with Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia but was still with Real Madrid last season.

16 - Al-Ittihad's Karim Benzema.

17 - Napoli's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

18 - Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham.

19 - Bayern Munich's Harry Kane.

20 - Inter's Lautaro Martinez.

Numbers 21-25

Next up is another Manchester City man to join Ruben Dias although not a UEFA Champions League winner with summer signing fro RB Leipzig Josko Gvardiol the next name to be read out. Arsenal have another name on the list too with Englishman Bukayo Saka joining the Croatia international. Manchester United get in on the action with goalkeeper Andre Onana although the Cameroonian star only joined the Red Devils from Inter this past summer. There is also Bayern Munich's South Korea international defender Kim Min Jae who excelled with Napoli before earning a move to the German giants this past transfer window. Atletico Madrid's in-form Frenchman Antoine Griezmann rounds out this batch of five names in 21st spot.

21 - Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann.

22 - Bayern Munich's Kim Min Jae.

23 - Manchester United's Andre Onana.

24 - Arsenal's Bukayo Saka.

25 - Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol.

Numbers 30-26

Starting with the men's top 30, we have the first few names coming in now. Here are your first five names out of the hat which includes UEFA Champions League winner Ruben Dias of Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain's Randal Kolo Muani, Arsenal's Martin Odegaard, Inter's Nicolo Barella and Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala.

26 - Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala.

27 - Inter's Nicolo Barella.

28 - PSG's Randal Kolo Muani and Arsenal's Martin Odegaard.

30 - Manchester City's Ruben Dias.

Welcome

Thank you for joining us for our coverage of the 2023 Ballon d'Or. Although legendary Argentinian Lionel Messi is expected to win big by the end of the night, there are a number of other awards to get to first across both the men's and women's soccer scenes. We have our first names out of the hat in Paris so brace yourselves for a flurry of activity and prizes in the coming hours!