Hazard & Giroud backing Lionel Messi to lift Ballon d'Or 2023

Lionel Messi is the favourite to win the award for eighth time

Lionel Messi of Inter Miami is the favourite to win his eighth Ballon d'Or during Monday night's ceremony in Paris, according to both Olivier Giroud and Eden Hazard.

Messi is the clear frontrunner to take home the award, according to Fabrizio Romano's report. The Argentinean won the World Cup for the first time last year, and Hazard—who declared his retirement earlier this month—says that victory should be determined by this achievement. The former forward for Chelsea and Real Madrid stated,

"It wouldn't be logical to not give the Ballon d'Or to the best player in history in the year that he won the World Cup."

Giroud has also supported Messi in defeating international colleague Kylian Mbappé to win the award.

“Who won the World Cup? That’s how it often works. On top of that, he played an important role in the World Cup so I think the Ballon d’Or will be given to Lionel Messi,” France’s record goalscorer told Téléfoot. 

After leading Real Madrid to the Champions League the previous season, Karim Benzema became the most recent Frenchman to be awarded the Ballon d'Or since Zinédine Zidane. Mbappé appears destined to lose out on the trophy even if he had a fantastic World Cup, hitting a hat-trick in the championship game.

The Argentine sensation led his country to victory in both the World Cup and the Paris Saint-Germain 2022–2023 season, as well as a second Ligue 1 championship.

He now holds the record for the most Golden Balls won, seven, and is expected to win an unprecedented eighth in Paris on October 30.

Despite Haaland's 52 goals to lead City to a treble in his first season at Etihad Stadium, Rodri has conceded that the Inter Miami attacker is the front-runner for the prestigious award.