Shaun Wright-Phillips is still irritated by Lionel Messi’s 2023 Ballon d’Or victory over Erling Haaland; he maintains that the final ballot was “unfair.”

On a momentous evening in Paris, the 36-year-old Inter Miami forward elevated his record-setting eighth Golden Ball by outrunning Manchester City’s Haaland. Messi’s December victory in Qatar with Argentina at the World Cup propelled him to the forefront of the race for the prestigious individual award. Wright-Phillips, on the other hand, believes that the Norwegian forward ought to have received the award, given that he led City to an unprecedented treble in 2022-23 and broke numerous goalscoring records in the process.

Former Manchester City player Erling Haaland was deserving of the Ballon d’Or this year, in his opinion, as reported by NewBettingSites.uk. “Lionel Messi is, in my opinion, the greatest player of all time, but that honor has historically been bestowed on the basis of individual achievements, and Haaland has broken every record that exists.” His goal total of twenty-one for Manchester City during the previous campaign was truly astounding. Depriving Haaland of the award in light of Messi’s World Cup victory with Argentina seems somewhat inequitable, given that he represents a Norwegian team that did not even participate in the competition.

There has been considerable debate within the football community regarding Messi’s deservingness of the award. While legends such as Thierry Henry praised the Barcelona legend, others, including Jerome Rothen and Lothar Matthaus, deemed the award a “farce” and a “disgrace” because Messi received the reward despite not deserving it.

On Sunday, Haaland will make his Premier League return against Chelsea. In contrast, Messi is currently on vacation following Inter Miami’s elimination from the MLS semifinals. Nonetheless, the forward will be active during the international holiday in November, as Argentina is scheduled to face Brazil and Uruguay in 2026 World Cup qualifying.