&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Lionel Messi for 2026 Ballon d’Or over Mbappe and Yamal, says Diego Simeone")
Argentina's great Lionel Messi deserves to win the 2026 Ballon d’Or ahead of favourites Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal, said fellow Argentine and Atletico Madrid’s manager Diego Simeone. Messi captained Argentina to the final of the concluded FIFA World Cup in North America in July this year, but failed to help them cross the winning line. Though he and his team finished runners-up, Messi’s individual brilliance at 39 was short of breathtaking. In what was his last World Cup, Messi scored eight goals, the most he has scored in a single edition, and assisted four times to inspire his team to back-to-back finals.
Truly impressed with Messi’s inspirational performance at the 48-team tournament, Simeone, who was in attendance for most of Argentina’s World Cup, backed Messi to take home his record ninth Ballon d’Or.
While both Mbappe and Yamal have vouched for themselves, arguing why they were the best of the two and deserve to win the Ballon d’Or this year, Simeone said there is no doubt in his mind that Messi stands a better chance than the two superstars.
“Messi, without a doubt,” Simeone told reporters ahead of Atletico’s La Liga match against Osasuna. “After the World Cup he had, at the age he is, no doubt at all. Messi.”
For the record, Messi had the best World Cup in North America. After scoring six goals alone in the group stage games, including his maiden World Cup hat-trick, Messi scored twice in the knockouts before assisting twice in the crucial semifinal against England at Mexico’s Estadio Azteca. His late setup helped Argentina come from 1-0 behind to beat England 2-1 and cruise into the all-important final against Spain.
In the final in New Jersey, neither Messi nor Argentina could do anything as Spain played perhaps “the perfect football” and scored an extra-time winner to become the world champions for the second time.
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Messi announced his international retirement on August 31 this year, days after his father, Jorge Messi, passed away. The Argentina Football Association (AFA), however, has named him in Argentina’s squad for three friendlies, but confirmed that his farewell appearance will be against Benin on October 6 at the Monumental in Buenos Aires. While Argentina will first face Bolivia in Córdoba on September 30 and Burkina Faso in Buenos Aires on October 3, Messi will feature only in the October 6 fixture, which will serve as his official farewell.
Meanwhile, the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony is scheduled for October 26 in London, when the winner will be announced.
