Ståle Solbakken, manager of the Norway national team, has backed Lionel Messi to win the 2023 Ballon d’Or award ahead of Erling Haaland.
Solbakken is in charge of Haaland at the international level and has enjoyed the 6 ft 4 inches striker’s abilities during international outings. Under him, Haaland has scored 70 percent of his goals as a Norway international.
Solbakken has also advocated for Haaland in several awards and prizes in the past. However, he has chosen to back sven-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi for the 2023 prize.
Haaland outscored all of Europe in every competition to help Manchester City claim the treble. For that, he was rewarded with the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award in addition to the other awards he won as a Manchester City player in England.
Those achievements have seen him become a leading candidate for the 2023 Ballon d’Or, which is voted for by journalists, managers and team captains. Haaland himself believes he can claim the prize on the back of his incredible achievements with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. “It’s a trick question. I’m definitely up there,” he said. “Am I the best? Maybe. I know I can still improve a great deal. I’m still young. But yes, I believe I have a chance this year.”
However, he is now in the know about where his international manager stands. When asked for his winning pick by VG, Solbakken replied: “If you ask me who I think will win, I will say Messi will win it thanks to his World Cup triumph. It still has an impact.”
The award will be presented on 1 October 2023. Norway will be more focused on qualifying for the 2024 UEFA European Championship, however.
They missed the 2020 tournament and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where Messi laid a claim to an eighth Ballon d’Or.
Haaland has yet to represent Norway in an official tournament since his debut in 2019, but he has scored 24 goals in 25 games for them. A solid performance on the grand stage of an international tournament is what is left to see him solidify his footing in modern conversations about great players.
They are in danger of missing another tournament, having only gathered four points from four games in their UEFA Euros qualifiers games so far. They are 11 points away from Scotland, who top their group, which is why the player and manager will be more focused on their game against Georgia than who gets to cop the most prestigious individual prize in football at the moment.
