Inter Miami superstar, Lionel Messi has been confirmed as the winner of the 2023 Ballon d’Or award in a list leaked online.
Goal reports that Messi finished in first position in the voting ahead of Erling Haaland of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe.
Haaland and Mbappe were in second and third positions respectively.
The top five is completed by Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid) and Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City).
Other notable players in the final 10 shortlist are Victor Osimhen (Napoli), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Karim Benzema (Al Ittihad), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) and Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona).
FINAL RANKINGS:
1. Messi
2. Haaland
3. Mbappé
4. Vinicius Jr.
5: De Bruyne
6: Rodri
7: Gündogan
8: Osimhen
9: Julian Alvarez
10: Lewandowski
11: Bellingham
12: Bernardo Silva
13: Benzema
14: Kvaratskhelia
15: Lautaro
16: Saka
17: Emi Martinez
18: Ødegaard
19: Salah
20: Musiala