The 2023 Golden Ball Award ceremony ended with victory for Lionel Messi, the 2022 world champion who defeated Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland. For Mbappe personally, only ranking 3rd in this race made the striker born in 1998 disappointed. This was confirmed by coach Didier Deschamps in an exclusive interview with beIN Sports television station.
“For Kylian, only ranking 3rd is a disappointing result. It’s an unfair vote from journalists around the world, but my point is not that Messi or Haaland are not worthy. Okay. As for Kylian, he is still young but what he has achieved is completely worthy of a Golden Ball.”
In that poll, there were some journalists who did not even vote for Kylian Mbappe in the top 5 Golden Balls. This received a harsh reaction from the captain of the French team.
“I was very surprised by the voting results of some journalists. Not putting Mbappe in the top is really unfair. I won’t use harsher words but that’s the message I want to say.”
Many mixed opinions about the Golden Ball race were also given, not just for Kylian Mbappe. Messi’s victory also caused a lot of controversy because many people thought that Erling Haaland with his successful season at Man City deserved it. than. However, both Mbappe and Haaland are young and still have a future ahead.