Why Lionel Messi is favourite to win Super Ballon d'Or and what the award means - opinion
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Few people know about the Super Ballon d’Or.
The Ballon d’Or itself is a well documented award, presented to the best footballer of each calendar year – Manchester City No.16 Rodri is the current holder, much to the disgust of Vinicius Junior who threw a real tantrum after missing out in October.
However – while there have been 68 Ballon d’Or trophies presented since the award was created back in 1956 – there has only ever been one Super Ballon d’Or handed out.
It was Alfredo Di Stefano who secured the one and only Super Ballon d’Or ahead of Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini back in 1989 – with the award residing in the Real Madrid museum inside the Santiago Bernabeu for many years until his family reportedly auctioned off his memorabilia in 2021.
Soon – however – a second Super Ballon d’Or could be presented, with rumours suggesting the prestigious trophy may return in 2029 exactly 40 years after Di Stefano won it.
If that is the case, here’s why Lionel Messi is the outright favourite to win it ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Lionel Messi outright favourite to win potential Super Ballon d’Or
As the holder of eight Ballon d’Or trophies – three more than his closest rival Ronaldo – Messi is the standalone favourite to win the Super Ballon d’Or if the award is brought back.
France Football handed out the initial Super Ballon d’Or to Di Stefano after choosing to create an award to commentate the best player of the last three decades, so by the same metric, the Argentina international ticks that box and then some.
Since making his La Liga debut, which came in a 1-0 win for Barcelona over Espanyol back in 16th October 2004 when he was just 17 years, three months and 22 days old, Messi has remarkably scored 738 goals in 892 games at club level, also providing 356 assists.
For Argentina, the South American boasts 112 goals in 191 appearances – helping La Albiceleste win the World Cup, Copa America and the Finalissima.
Of course, the mathematicians amongst you will have noticed Messi hasn’t even been playing football for the last three decades – his debut was 20 years ago – although his efforts have undoubtedly outdone those of any other player across the last 30 years.
Why Cristiano Ronaldo cannot argue if Lionel Messi wins Super Ballon d’Or
Ronaldo and Messi – who recently hailed Emiliano Martinez – have obviously been great rivals across the last two decades.
Only the Portugal international gets anywhere close to the Argentine with five Ballon d’Ors to his name and 775 goals in 1,032 outings at club level, the first of those awards coming while he was ripping up the Premier League with Manchester United in 2008.
However, Ronaldo’s lack of international success with Portugal – mainly his inability to win a World Cup – is surely going to count against him if the Super Ballon d’Or returns to football in 2029.
Given how badly Ronaldo, who wanted David de Gea with him in Saudi Arabia, reacted when Messi won the World Cup in 2022 – allegedly – losing out on the Super Ballon d’Or to the Inter Miami No.10 could seriously irk the Al-Nassr talisman.
