The major reason why Erling Haaland did not win his first Ballon d’Or award this year has emerged.
Lionel Messi was handed the award by France Football in Paris on Monday.
It is the 36-year-old Argentinian’s eighth award and hopefully his last as he has left European football and now plays in the Major League Soccer.
Haaland was widely tipped to win this year’s award after scoring over 50 goals in competitions for Manchester City, helping Pep Guardiola’s side to win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup in one season.
However, the majority of the voting countries felt Lionel deserved the award better. But Haaland’s major challenge was that almost all the countries in his continent voted for Lionel Messi, including England, where he plies his trade.
The likes of England, Scotland, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Russia, Romania, Turkiye, Slovenia, Poland, Luxembourg, Israel, Northern Ireland, Finland, Belgium, Austria, Armenia, Germany, etc., all voted for Messi over Haaland.
