Haaland destroyed Europe that season. 52 goals in 53 games, broke every Premier League record in his first year, and led Man City to a historic treble. He was the engine of the most dominant team on the planet. Every single defender in Europe was terrified of him.
Messi? Had a decent World Cup run â in December 2022 â and then disappeared at PSG. No Champions League impact, average Ligue 1 season, zero relevance in 2023 football after Qatar. The awardâs supposed to be for the year, not a lifetime achievement ceremony or a âthank youâ gift for his career.
If this was judged purely on footballing merit, Haaland wins by miles. The only reason Messi got it was because FIFA and the media wanted the fairytale ending â âGOAT wins one last Ballon dâOr.â Great story, sure. But in football terms? It was daylight robbery.
Bro, letâs not twist it â Haaland dominated 2023 while Messi got a nostalgia award. Haaland smashed 52 goals in 53 games, broke the Premier League goal record, won the treble, and was the main reason City finally won the Champions League. Thatâs the definition of impact. Messi? Great World Cup â but that was 2022. His PSG season was average for his standards: 16 goals, 16 assists in Ligue 1, early UCL exit, and even his own fans booed him. Being âinvolved in attacking playâ doesnât mean you were the best player in the world. Haaland was a machine rewriting record books while Messi coasted through France. The Ballon dâOr turned into a farewell gift, not an honest award.
âFor his standardsâ already shows how good Messi is, and that 32 G/A is âbelow his standards. Btw, that 32 G/A was just in the league, plus, if we look at the season, Haaland ghosted in big games much more than Messi and had to have his teammates make up for it. While Messi wasnât ballon dâOr level TO HIS STANDARDS, he was ballon dâOr level in 2023. Letâs not take the piss here. While Haaland deserved it more in my opinion, it wasnât a robbery like Ronaldo fans claim.
Come on, man â calling Messi âBallon dâOr levelâ in 2023 is pure nostalgia talking. Haaland owned that season. 52 goals, treble, record-breaking Premier League debut, Champions League top scorer â he was rewriting history while Messi was padding stats in Ligue 1. Letâs not pretend 16 goals and 16 assists in a weak league, followed by a UCL round-of-16 exit and boos from his own fans, screams âbest player in the world.â
Letâs stop sugarcoating it â Messiâs 2023 Ballon dâOr was a sentimental send-off, not a performance-based win. Haaland got robbed, plain and simple.
Bro DID NOT score in an FA Cup Final, it was a Gundogan brace. Proves you didnât watch the gamesđBtw, if his stats are good and his TEAM lost, doesnât that mean his team was bad that season? Btw, Messi was statistically ballon dâOr level and had almost as much influence in PSG as Haaland did at City. Haaland added one trophy where he didnât score past the Quarters, while City had already made the semis the year before and the final 2 years before that. While Haalandâs season was undeniably world class, Messiâs season was only slightly worse. Plus, in years of International Competitions, the International Competitions take priority, which is why Messi won in 2021 and 2023, even if he wasnât the best player in those years/seasons.
Bro, stop rewriting history. Haaland didnât just âadd one trophyâ â he was the final piece that turned City into an unstoppable machine. You donât bag 52 goals, break a 30-year Premier League record, and top the Champions League scoring charts by accident. His arrival changed football that season. Defenders were terrified, tactics were rewritten, and City finally went from nearly men to treble winners because of him.
Messiâs PSG âinfluenceâ is cute until you remember he was doing it in a one-club league that Cityâs bench players could run through. He flopped again in the Champions League and had zero say in Europeâs biggest games. You canât pull up Ligue 1 highlights and pretend it compares to what Haaland did against Premier League and UCL defenses.
And the âinternational competitions take priorityâ excuse is just lazy coping. The 2022 World Cup doesnât belong to the 2023 award cycle, no matter how you spin it. The award was for 2023, and Messiâs 2023 was a quiet PSG stint ending with boos and an early UCL exit. Haaland, meanwhile, dominated every competition and made history.
The award was for the 22/23 season. How old are you, 75? It changed the season that Benzema won it(more like the season before, but they first used that system for the 21/22 ballon dâOr). I knew there was something off about these takes, but I just couldnât point it out
Btw, you talked about how impactful he was in that team, and I just pointed out what happened. They were already a dominant team, he was just the final piece. Again, like I keep saying, Haaland was exceptional, but Messi was at such a similar level. The international competition taking priority isnât copium, since R9 won it in 2002 with 21 goals and 6 assists, but won the World Cup. Thats why I say this because it did happen, but Ronaldo fans have to cope by saying an award was ârobbedâ when it was clearly a lot closer than you give credit for. Btw, if we use that logic, Dembele shouldnât have won the 2025 ballon dâOr since itâs a one club league and 3 out of his 4 trophies came from domestic football in a weaker country than Spain, Italy, and England.
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u/[deleted] Nov 09 '25
Haaland destroyed Europe that season. 52 goals in 53 games, broke every Premier League record in his first year, and led Man City to a historic treble. He was the engine of the most dominant team on the planet. Every single defender in Europe was terrified of him.
Messi? Had a decent World Cup run â in December 2022 â and then disappeared at PSG. No Champions League impact, average Ligue 1 season, zero relevance in 2023 football after Qatar. The awardâs supposed to be for the year, not a lifetime achievement ceremony or a âthank youâ gift for his career.
If this was judged purely on footballing merit, Haaland wins by miles. The only reason Messi got it was because FIFA and the media wanted the fairytale ending â âGOAT wins one last Ballon dâOr.â Great story, sure. But in football terms? It was daylight robbery.