Mel Antonio believes it would be a scandal if Lionel Messi beats Erling Haaland to the 2023 Ballon d’Or. The West Ham striker argued that Haaland, who scored 52 goals for Manchester City in all competitions last season, deserves to win the prize despite Messi captaining Argentina to World Cup glory in December. Speaking on the Footballers’ Football Podcast, Antonio said, “I understand Messi winning the World Cup is massive, but you can’t look past a treble-winning team and what Haaland brought to that, breaking records. He deserves that Ballon d’Or. If he doesn’t get it, then it’s a scandal.”

Newcastle forward Callum Wilson agreed, adding, “What Haaland did last season can’t be overlooked. If you take away international football and compare statistically, Haaland should win the award. You can’t look past Messi winning his first World Cup as it’s a big contributing factor, but club football-wise, he’s been playing in America, which is very different to Haaland in the Premier League.” After breaking the record for the most goals scored in a single Premier League season and helping City win the treble, Haaland is up for the Ballon d’Or best men’s player award alongside the likes of Messi, Kylian Mbappé, and City teammate Rodri.

According to reports, Messi, who joined Inter Miami in July, has been told that he will win the award for a record-extending eighth time. Messi’s club season is over after Inter Miami failed to qualify for the MLS playoffs. Haaland, meanwhile, has already scored nine goals in all competitions this season for City, who will face arch-rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford in their next Premier League game.

The 2023 Ballon d’Or awards ceremony is almost upon us, with some of the world’s best footballers among the nominees to succeed 2022 winner Karim Benzema in lifting the Golden Ball in Paris on October 30th. It promises to be a unique Ballon d’Or battle, with the World Cup taking place in the middle of the 2022-23 campaign, meaning it could be a distant memory by the time the votes were cast in August. There is no doubt, however, that playing a starring role in Qatar boosted some players’ chances of competing for the Golden Ball, even with the winners of domestic and European titles grabbing the late-season attention, putting themselves in the frame to win the biggest individual honor of them all. The question remains: which of the nominees will stand out, and which will just be also-rans?