Aitana Bonmati and Lionel Messi were crowned Ballon D’or winners at the 2023 Ballon D’or Awards.
Bonmati’s win comes after she starred in midfield for Spain’s Women’s World Cup triumph as she scored three goals and provided two assists, which helped Spain to a maiden Women’s World Cup title against England in a tense Final and clinched her the Golden Ball Award for her performances.
Bonmati also became the second Spaniard to win this trophy after Alexia Putellas who had won in 2021 & 22 respectively.
Chelsea’s Sam Kerr finished second ahead of Bonmati’s teammate at both Spain and Barcelona – Salma Paralluelo, who had scored the winner in Spain’s Quarter-Final win over Netherlands then opened the scoring in their semi-final victory against Sweden.
England’s Mary Earps finished fifth as the highest-placed English finisher in the Ballon D’or Feminin, having claimed the Golden Glove award at the World Cup for England and in Women’s Super League with Manchester United.
Rachel Daly meanwhile finished tenth just ahead of her national teammate, Millie Bright who found herself 11th on the shortlist, whilst Georgia Stanway was a lowly 23rd place just behind Arsenal midfielder and Republic of Ireland international, Katie McCabe in 22nd position.
Barcelona were crowned the Women’s Club of the Year after they won Spain’s Liga F and UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
Across in the Men’s Ballon D’or category, Messi won his eighth Ballon D’or title after he spearheaded Argentina’s run to the 2022 FIFA World Cup title with seven goals, as he saw off competition from Erling Haaland who finished second.
Haaland took home the Gerd Muller Trophy after he scored 52 goals in 53 matches for Manchester City last season, during which he helped the Cityzens claim a treble – Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League.
Last year’s winner, Karim Benzema finished a lowly 16th place in the shortlist reflective of his drop in performance compared to 2022.
England’s Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka and finished in 18th, 19th and 24th positions respectively in the Men’s Ballon D’or list.
Saka’s fellow Premier League stars aside from Haaland finished in the following positions:
- Kevin De Bruyne (4th)
- Rodri (5th)
- Julian Alvarez (7th)
- Bernardo Silva (9th)
- Mohamed Salah (11th)
- Emiliano Martinez (15th)
- Andre Onana (23rd)
- Josko Gvardiol (25th)
- Martin Odegaard (28th)
- Ruben Dias (30th)
Bellingham meanwhile became the first English player to win the Kopa Trophy – awarded to the best male footballer under 21 years-old – for his 19 goals in total for England plus Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid this year.
The 20 year-old beat off competition from Germany’s Jamal Musiala who finished second ahead of Spain’s Pedri.
Aston Villa and Argentina goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez was awarded the Yashin Trophy for his goalkeeping displays for club and country over the last 12 months, which saw him win the World Cup with Argentina and help Villa achieve European qualification.
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Juinor received the Socrate Award for his charity foundation’s work with disadvantaged children in his home country – Brazil.
Full list of winners
Ballon d’Or
Winner – Lionel Messi (Inter Miami/Argentina)
2nd place – Erling Haaland (Manchester City/Norway)
3rd place – Kylian Mbappe (PSG/France)
Ballon d’Or Feminin
Winner – Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona/Spain)
2nd place – Sam Kerr (Chelsea/Australia)
3rd place – Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona/Spain)
Kopa Trophy
Winner – Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund/Real Madrid/England)
Yashin Trophy
Winner – Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa/Argentina)
Gerd Muller Trophy
Winner – Erling Haaland (Manchester City/Norway)
Men’s Club of the Year
Winner – Manchester City
Women’s Club of the Year
Winner – Barcelona
Socrates Award
Vinicius Juinor (Real Madrid/Brazil)
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