Matthäus: “Messi’s Ballon d’Or win is a farce, Haaland was better last year”

The German stated: “This shows that a World Cup counts more than anything else for the award as Haaland was the best player over the last 12 months”

The former German captain Lothar Matthäus described Leo Messi’s Ballon dOr win as a “farce”. Monday night saw the Argentine scoop the individual award for an eighth time with Matthäus feeling that Norwegian Erling Haaland should have been the winner of the award because “he performed better” than the Inter Miami forward.

“Throughout the year, Haaland performed better than Messi. It is undeserved that Messi has won. For me there is no way to avoid what Haaland achieved. Although I am a Messi fan, I think this is a farce,” he told the Sky.

The Argentine received the award on Monday night at a ceremony in Paris by winning the vote ahead of Man City’s Haaland and PSG striker Kylian Mbappé. According to Matthäus, Messi’s selection as the best player in the world demonstrates “that a World Cup counts more than anything else”, referring to the World Cup won by Argentina in Qatar 2022.

“For me, Haaland is the best player of the last twelve months, who has won major titles with Manchester City -Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup- and has broken goal scoring records in the process”, stated the German, who himself won the Ballon d’Or in 1990.