Credit: Twitter
After a year of his World Cup heroics where he helped Argentina win their third FIFA World Cup title, the 36-year-old Lionel Messi won his record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or award on Monday night. While many lauded the Argentina captain for his remarkable features, some fans were in disbelief with the former PSG forward winning the award over Manchester City's treble-winning striker Erling Haaland.
Messi scored two goals in the Qatar World Cup final against France last year and surpassed Matthaüs as the player with the most appearances at the World Cup (26), and Pelé as the player with the most direct goal contributions at the World Cup (21 – 13 goals and 8 assists). Messi also won the Golden Ball and later the FIFA's best men's player award in February this year.
The second-most Ballon d'Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo was snubbed from the list, however, Ronaldo's superfan IShowSpeed was expecting the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's name for the award despite the 38-year-old was not in contention. When Messi's name was announced for the award, the American YouTuber, who was expecting Ronaldo's name, showed his disbelief and went through all emotions.
Watch the video here:
The 36-year-old Messi won the award over the likes of Erling Haaland, who scored 52 goals and made nine assists to help Manchester City lift their first-ever treble by winning the UCL, Premier League, and FA Cup, and Kylian Mbappe, who helped France reach the World Cup final in 2022 and winning the Golden Boot award for his eight goals including his FIFA WC final hat-trick against Argentina.