Aitana Bonmatí and Lionel Messi have been named the 2023 Ballon d’Or winners at the awards ceremony in Paris on Tuesday morning.
Messi beats his record again with the eighth award. Messi’s World Cup‑winning campaign with Argentina made him the favourite.
Bonmatí was the favourite after being named player of the tournament as Spain won their first World Cup and she was part of the Barcelona Femení team that won the continental treble. FC Barcelona Femení was named Women’s Club of the Year.
Manchester City became the men’s club of the year.
The England midfielder Jude Bellingham won the Kopa trophy for the best under-21 male player claiming 15 goals and eight assists for Borussia Dortmund last season and has been the goal machine for Real Madrid this year.
Erling Haaland, who scored a remarkable 52 goals for Manchester City last season, won the Gerd Müller trophy. Haaland became second in voting for the Ballon d’Or.
The winner of the Lev Yashin trophy was Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez.
The Sócrates prize to acknowledge humanitarian work championed by a footballer was handed to Vinícius Jr by Prince Albert II of Monaco for the Real Madrid forward’s organisation, Instituto Vini Jr, which provides opportunities for underprivileged Brazilian youngsters.
