Lionel Messi (36) may just have won his eighth Ballon d’Or, however, France manager Didier Deschamps isn’t fully convinced that he is the greatest of all time.
Messi was the strong favourite to win the Ballon d’Or having won the World Cup with Argentina back in December. It is the eighth, and likely final time, that he has won the prestigious accolade, awarded by France Football. No other player comes close to rivalling Messi in terms of Ballon d’Or wins. Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won five, comes closest. The Portuguese international did not feature on the shortlist to win the prize this year.
However, despite Messi’s achievements over the course of his career, Deschamps isn’t convinced that the former Paris Saint-Germain forward can be considered the greatest of all time. The France manager was present at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris on Monday night and told Futbol Picante, “The Argentinians [say that Messi is the best of all time]. But is difficult to say that Messi is better than Cristiano Ronaldo or Kylian Mbappé, who is younger.”
Mbappé is yet to win the Ballon d’Or, but secured his highest ranking on Monday, finishing third behind Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and winner Messi.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
nellomcfc
728
What do you expect from a man Messi and Argentina got him beaten? let wait for Mbappe & Ronaldo to win 8 ballon d'or each then we can have such discussions
fauzishma
533
France coach and his fans instead of blaming Muani who failed to score clear chance they are busy blaming Messi and Fifa 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Peaceking1234
414
The Only Person better than Lionel Messi🐐👑 is Himself💯 , Just Incomparable💯💯🔥🔥
hardwork001
139
Man hurt. Forever hurt. Messi and his compatriot Martinez had the audacity to win these prizes in France. I actually heard some booing when Messi and his family arrived at the awards. It was the same situation at PSG. He beat them. What do u expect their coach to say? Now let's talk abt what he said. Ronaldo or Mbappe to rival Messi for goat? No chance. Mbappe can maybe in 10 years time. He has the WC. He will need at least 5 Ballon d'ors , 3 UCLs, at least 5 league wins, goals, asissts ....a # of records. In short not even Mbappe can rival Messi. These are juniors. Let them compete against each other. This Deschamps is very funny. He played/saw Maradona. Probably Pele too. And he talks abt Ronaldo and Mbappe? Messi is INFINITY. Unmatchable. There is not a single player worthy of un/tying his shoe laces. The earlier people realise that the better for them. And now is the time to start appreciating him. In the near future, when he stops playing, the gap btn a scorer and playmaker in one person vs scorer vs playmaker will be so large. Embrace the GOAT.
kooacknprt
102
Hahahah damn Kylian Mbappe. Honestly peter's word are gold " the debate can range on if you like". im convinced Messi is the GOAT of our era, I am a Ronaldo fan,
Ifeanyi9
9
The same logic applies to Ronaldo’s Ballon D’or. Lol You Messi fans assume anyone remotely critical of Messi must be a Ronaldo fan lol
Obviously u are a Ronaldo fan... Ribbery won Champions league, Bundesliga and league cup in 2013, he was clearly the best player in the world as of then, few weeks to Ballon d'or ceremony, Ronaldo qualified Portugal to the world cup against Sweden, these journalists you are against today voted him as the best player and gave Ribbery best in UEFA. Anything related to world cup has too much value in football. Pele and Maradona never won champions league, winning the world cup immortalized their names. Keep quiet if you don't know what to say, Haaland isn't a Ballon d'or contender aside goals. How many mvp's does he have in major and minor tournaments even with his goals???