Lionel Messi Wins 8th Ballon d’Or

Eight. Winning his eighth Ballon d’Or over his 20-year career, Leo Messi now accounts for almost 12% of all Ballon d’Or trophies given in men’s football history since the award’s establishment in 1956. From a different perspective, Messi can now dedicate his entire collection of Golden Balls in a single decade with few gaps, something no other player in history (including Cristiano Ronlado at 5 trophies) can do.
Messi came first in the Ballon d’Or voting with Erling Haaland of Man City and Kylian Mbappé coming in at second and third, respectively. Although Haaland broke the single-season goal record in his Premier League debut and Mbappé crushed Ligue 1 and put on a stellar performance in the 2022 World Cup with France, Messi’s World Cup win with Argentina, a feat the country last achieved in 1986, has propelled his career to perfection. He has completed football once again.

Harry Kane Blazing Through Bundelisga

While he wasn’t expected to flop after a successful run at his lifelong club Tottenham Hotspurs, Englishman Harry Kane has had a sensational start as Bayern Munich’s new striker. The 30-year-old forward has scored 17 goals across his first 11 matches, and is on pace to break the Bundesliga single-season goal record set by former Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski in the 2020-21 season.
Leaving Tottenham before the start of the 2023-24 season, Kane (213 goals) had already written himself into Premier League history as the second highest career goal scorer behind Alan Shearer (260). While he had accomplished so much as a striker and playmaker on the pitch, Kane’s main shortcoming of his decorated career is the lack of silverware. At both club and international competitions, Kane has yet to win a major trophy, something he hopes to break with his year at Bayern by winning the Bundesliga title.