It may have been accused of not being objective over the years, of not being a truly representative award and of excluding deserving players, but the Ballon d’Or is the most anticipated event by millions of fans around the world. Year after year.

Won by Karim Benzema in the last edition, the 2023 Ballon d’Or will be awarded in mid-autumn. The 2022 World Cup will also count, in addition to the 2022-2023 club season. A key period to determine who will be the heir to the French striker, one of the many big names who moved to Saudi Arabia.

The fight for this prestigious trophy seems to be between Haaland and Messi, the former winner of major club titles, the latter the driving force of Argentina at the 2022 World Cup. It will be in the hands of journalists from around the world, as usual, to express their preference.

On October 30, 2023, Monday, the award for the best player of the 2022-2023 season will be awarded. Here are the candidates for the 2023 Ballon d’Or for men:

Josko Gvardiol (Leipzig/Manchester City)

Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)

Andre Onana (Inter/Manchester United)

Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/Al Ittihad)

Moahamed Salah (Liverpool)

Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)

Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund/Real Madrid)

Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt/PSG)

Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)

Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)

Nicolò Barella (Inter)

Ruben Dias (Manchester City)

Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

Yassine Bounou (Sevilla/Al Hilal)

Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)

Julian Alvarez (Manchester City)

Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City/Barcelona)

Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)

Lionel Messi (PSG/Inter Miami)

Lautaro Martinez (Inter)

Rodri (Manchester City)

Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)

Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)

Kylian Mbappe (PSG)

Kim Min-Jae (Napoli/Bayern Munich)

Victor Osimhen (Napoli)

Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

Harry Kane (Tottenham/Bayern Munich)

As is known, the journalists of the top 100 FIFA ranking countries draw up a classification of five players: the first gets 5 points, the second 4 points and so on. Messi could win the eighth Ballon d’Or of his career, but Norwegian star Haaland could win his first. Everything seems in balance. Mbappé could take third place, with De Bruyne, Salah, Rodri, Vinicius and Gundogan vying for the other top spots.