After Losing to Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland Told Why He’ll Never Win the Ballon d’Or in His Career

It has become a daunting task to decide the best player of the year in soccer. After the influence of social media, mass opinions have raised more doubts about the decisions. This year’s Ballon d’Or had a lot of split opinions. With Erling Haaland losing out to Lionel Messi despite his spectacular performance, a senior journalist describes why he could miss out on the award in the future.

Furthermore, the media was split over France Football’s decision to choose Messi. There were a few journalists around the world taking a dig at the results. In spite of being a close contest, particular criteria of the award concerned the soccer fraternity.

Senior journalist clarifies Erling Haaland’s prospects in the future Ballon d’Or race

Social media is flooded with opinions, disagreements, and disappointments from rivals. A Spanish journalist, Josep Pedrerol, believes that it could be impossible for Haaland to win the award in the future. As they denied him the opportunity to earn it after 52 goals in all competitions, one must wonder what he must do to claim the Ballon d’Or.

On this note, the journalist, as translated by DeepL, said, “If what COUNTS is the WORLD CUP or EURO CUP, HAALAND can NEVER WIN the GOLDEN BALL. ”

Pedrerol expressed that Haaland could find it problematic if the criteria for choosing the winners remain the same. The primary emphasis is that winning international tournaments such as the Euros and World Cup establishes the criteria for success that could potentially hinder Haaland in time. Notably, Haaland plays for the Norwegian national team, which reduces his chances of winning an international trophy due to the lack of quality in the squad.

Significantly, Norway did not qualify for the last World Cup in 2022, nor the 2024 Euros in Germany. Haaland, however, replicates his Manchester City form for Norway. The former Borussia Dortmund player has scored an impressive 27 goals in 28 games for his country. Yet, the organizers believed Haaland failed to reach the point of excellence.

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Lionel Messi selected over Haaland for the 2023 Ballon d’Or

Haaland scored 52 goals for Manchester City last season, winning the treble. The player also won the UEFA Player of the Year on his list of growing honors. Lionel Messi won the award mainly because of his World Cup win. However, the Argentinian also won the Ligue 1 with PSG scoring 16 goals and providing 16 assists.

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However, France Football considers more than just goals to award the trophy. The benchmarks are much broader, like crucial contributions, on-field behavior, a vital role in the team, and fair play. The Manchester City star won the Gerd Muller trophy for being the highest goal scorer. Haaland also promised to do his best to repeat his performance again in the upcoming season.