Sport
Messi Says Lautaro Martínez Deserves to Win the Ballon d’Or More Than Anyone
Lionel Messi remains the king of the Ballon d’Or with a record-breaking eight wins, but the Argentine legend has admitted that another star from his country also deserved the famous golden ball.
With the 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony set to take place in Paris on Monday, fans are buzzing about who will be crowned the best player in the world this year. Messi, however, shifted the spotlight to his teammate Lautaro Martínez. He praised him for a brilliant run of form in recent seasons.
According to Messi, Lautaro’s performances for Inter Milan and the Argentina national team have been nothing short of outstanding. He led Inter to glory in Serie A, delivered goals on the biggest stages, and even finished as the top scorer in the Copa America. For Messi, those achievements were enough to put his name on the Ballon d’Or list.
Despite that, Martínez has often been overlooked when the final votes are counted. In one of his best seasons, he only managed a seventh-place finish while other names like Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland dominated the headlines. Messi made it clear that his fellow Argentine “deserved the Ballon d’Or more than anyone else” for that campaign.
Former footballer Thierry Henry has shared his thoughts on Arsenal’s match following their loss to Atlético Madrid on October 13.
Speaking during a brief interview on CBS Sports, Henry criticised the practice of players or coaches expressing certain opinions through the media instead of addressing issues directly within the dressing room.
“I’m not a coach anymore, but I always say, whoever speaks like that, out. Keep that in the dressing room, it’s as simple as that,” Henry said on CBS Sports.
“That is the only way it can work. You have to say those things to a person’s face… going through the press, I am not really a fan of that.”
Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique has shared his thoughts on the 2026 Ballon d’Or award, revealing that he hopes the winner will come from his team.
The manager spoke about how hard his players have worked and expressed his belief that they deserve the recognition.
“What I hope is that we win this trophy. We have players who deserve it.”
“Last year, we were the best team. We showed that it wasn’t just Ousmane Dembélé who deserved it.”
French football pundit Walid Acherchour has named Lamine Yamal as his pick to win the 2026 Ballon d’Or, sparking reactions among football fans.
Acherchour’s choice came as a surprise to some fans, who expected him to support fellow Frenchman Kylian Mbappé instead.
Speaking about his prediction, Acherchour expressed confidence in Yamal’s chances of winning the prestigious individual award.
“For me, Lamine Yamal, he is going to get it [2026 Ballon d’Or]. For me, there’s no doubt anymore,” Acherchour said, as quoted by Actu Foot. That start to the season shows that in fact, he was injured during the World Cup. He was the best player in La Liga, and he won the World Cup.
“Even if, for me, in fact, he doesn’t have the Ballon d’Or unanimously because his World Cup was average, even being average, he won it with Spain. He won La Liga with Barça.”
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