Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati on Monday won her second successive women’s Ballon d’Or, after leading her club to a historic continental quadruple of titles and claiming the Nations League with her country. The 26-year-old playmaker joins team-mate Alexia Putellas as the only women to win the Ballon d’Or twice, since the award’s inauguration in 2018. “This cannot be …

Lionel Messi won FIFA’s “The Best” award for the third time on Monday as the Argentine pipped Manchester City’s Erling Haaland to the prize for best men’s player in 2023. Haaland was the favourite to win after scoring 52 times in his debut season with Manchester City, but Messi edged the vote after winning Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain and …

The 2023 Ballon d’Or France Football award ceremony took place at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. Argentina megastar, Lionel Messi, won the Ballon d’Or for a record eighth time ahead of Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and France’s Kylian Mbappe, who finished second and third respectively. Lionel Messi dedicated his record eighth Ballon d’Or award to Diego Maradona on what …