Former Paris Saint-Germain star Lionel Messi lifted his eighth Ballon d’Or at the end of October. Behind the Argentine is Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and his former teammate at PSG, Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe took to Instagram to publicly congratulate the 2022 FIFA World Cup champion. The French player believes that Messi deserves to win the award. However, the PSG star is said to have had a different reaction backstage.
Le Parisien journalist Benjamin Quarez revealed the French winger’s immediate reaction when the award went to Messi. Quarez said: “He is very disappointed, Mbappe set his sights on winning the Golden Ball but finished third, which is more unfortunate because he scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final.”
Mbappe will likely play the rest of the 2023-24 season with great expectations for himself. He aims to win the Golden Ball in 2024 and has many chances to do it.
If Mbappe can join France in winning the championship at UEFA Euro 2024 or the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics along with his personal achievements, Mbappe will have a great record of achievement to be able to firmly grasp the tournament. noble reward that he has never received before.
Mbappe’s biggest rival, Haaland, may not even be able to play at Euro 2024 because Norway is now only hoping to win 1 out of 3 playoff spots after failing to get past the group stage. On the other hand, Mbappe has a much bigger advantage. If Mbappe and PSG advance far in the UEFA Champions League and win two international achievements next summer, the 2024 Golden Ball will be hard to escape from the former Monaco player.