I’ve seen a lot of people online saying Messi’s win was a robbery, and that Haaland deserved to win.

While I 100% get those sentiments, I have some thoughts on why Haaland didn’t deserve to win.

It’s difficult to remember a time before the Ballon d’Or was dominated by Messi and Ronaldo - in fact, a lot of football fans today might not have even been born before their reign began.

Historically, if you look at who won the Ballon d’Or over the years, it’s almost always the player who was the most entertaining to watch that year. Since the Messi-Ronaldo dominance, this seems to have changed into who scored the most goals, and I just don’t think football is as simple as that.

Consider this (and be honest with yourself about it): whose highlights are you more likely to watch from 2022-23, Messi’s or Haaland’s?

As much of a goal scoring machine as Haaland is, I don’t find myself watching his highlights back, whereas I’ve already watched Messi’s World Cup highlights a few times, because he’s just that mesmerising.

In case you’re thinking “here we go, another deluded Messi super fan”, I’m going to throw a spanner in the works. In my personal opinion, for the reasons stated above, I would actually have Kevin De Bruyne and Kylian Mbappe ahead of Haaland too.

In my opinion, it shouldn’t just be about who scored the most goals, nor who won the most trophies - it should be about who brought the most magic to the game. Who made you gasp in awe, cheer with excitement, get up off your seat.

If I was Haaland right now, would I feel robbed? Almost certainly. But can I honestly say that he brings the same romance to the game as Messi, Ronaldo, Kaka, Ronaldinho, etc? Well, no.

Those are just my thoughts, but I wanted to express them.

Edit: words