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Norway coach believes Lionel Messi will win Ballon d’Or 2023 over Erling Haaland

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Erling Haaland will compete for the Ballon d’Or and is one of the favorites to win this prestigious award. 52 goals in all competitions in 2022-23 was enough to rank among the best.

Although Haaland’s Norwegian national team coach is the best striker of the last season, he believes that he will not win the Ballon d’Or.

Stale Solbakken said: “That is very good. If you help dominate the two best teams in England and have a prominent role there, then you have a good chance of getting nominated.”

But the Norwegian boss said Messi remains the favorite ahead of his star striker Haaland.

“It’s probably between Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Erling,” he said. “And then there are some outsiders. If you are asking who I think will win, I think Messi will win because of the World Cup. The focus is always on this year’s World Cup. Mbappé was there too.

“Then Erling has the top goalscorer titles, broke records and all the ‘player of the year’ titles in England and won the club’s most prestigious tournament. It also stands firm.”

The Norwegian powerhouse won plenty of individual honors after his heroics with Manchester City last season. In England, he won the Player of the Year award and was also crowned UEFA Player of the Year.

Lionel Messi is the favorite to win his eighth Ballon d’Or. His World Cup heroics are why the odds are in the Argentinian’s favour. Kylian Mbappe is also another contender but is likely to finish behind Haaland in goal. Both players are the future of the sport and are likely to compete against each other for such a prestigious award.

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