Ballon d'Or 2023: Why can Haaland compete with Messi?

There is no denying that Messi is leading the Ballon d'Or race after winning the 2022 World Cup. The Argentine superstar is looking to add an eighth Ballon d'Or to his collection and very few can compete with him.

However, there is still one candidate who can do that: Haaland. The young Norwegian star had an impressive debut at Man City, breaking many scoring records and winning an impressive treble.

It won't be easy to dethrone Messi this year, but there's no complaining if Haaland wins the Ballon d'Or at the awards ceremony on October 30.

Haaland's scoring numbers

Anyone who doubted Haaland has had to think again after seeing his goalscoring statistics.

The 23-year-old scored 15 goals in his first 10 Premier League games, including three hat-tricks, and also scored five in his opening three Champions League games. Despite slowing down towards the end of the season, he still finished the season with an incredible 52 goals in 53 games for Man City.

36 of those goals came in just 35 games, breaking the previous record held by Mohamed Salah for most goals in a 38-game Premier League season. Haaland also provided nine assists, a staggering 61 goals per game – an average of 1.17 goals per game.

Meanwhile, Messi contributed 41 goals in as many games for PSG last season. It must be emphasized that Ligue 1 is still much less competitive than the Premier League.

Haaland's number of titles

Guardiola has turned Man City into the greatest team ever in English football, but the Spaniard needed a Champions League trophy to prove it. After years of chasing, he finally got it with the help of Haaland.

There have long been claims that Guardiola could not have won the Champions League without Messi, but Haaland, along with others, helped dispel that theory when Man City beat Inter 1-0 in last year's final.

Haaland scored 12 Champions League goals in just 11 games last season, including five in just 63 minutes against RB Leipzig in the round of 16. Haaland also scored home and away in the quarter-final against another strong Champions League opponent, Bayern Munich. With his consistency in front of goal, Haaland has proven to be worth every penny.

Haaland also won the Premier League after a difficult journey for Man City. Arsenal's revival under Mikel Arteta has propelled the Citizens all the way and things could have been very different without Haaland's string of goals from the opening game to the final weeks of the season.

Of course, there’s the FA Cup win that completed a remarkable treble for City. After being rested in the opening rounds, Haaland scored a hat-trick against Burnley in the quarter-finals and played the full game in City’s 2-1 win over cross-town rivals Manchester United in June.

Haaland is only at a disadvantage in the international arena.

Messi's motivation to win the 2023 Ballon d'Or is success at the 2022 World Cup. However, that is a disadvantage for Haaland.

Norway failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, leaving one of the world's best strikers stranded in Manchester while most of the other elite players travelled to Qatar to compete.

This is a weak team in the international arena. They have only participated in the World Cup 3 times before and have never won a ticket to this playground in the 21st century. Therefore, it is unfair to underestimate Haaland just because he plays for a weak team.

Since the turn of the century, very few players have won the Ballon d’Or without representing a strong national team. Ukraine’s Andriy Shevchenko and Czech Pavel Nedved are among those to be mentioned. Norway’s lack of participation in major tournaments certainly puts Haaland at a disadvantage, but it would be unfair to only value his international achievements while overlooking his club contributions.

The 10 most recent Golden Balls

2022: Karim Benzema;

2021: Lionel Messi;

2019: Lionel Messi;

2018: Luka Modric;

2017: Cristiano Ronaldo;

2016: Cristiano Ronaldo;

2015: Lionel Messi;

2014: Cristiano Ronaldo;

2013: Cristiano Ronaldo;

2012: Lionel Messi.