Even though Lionel Messi had won the eighth Golden Ball, his happiness was short-lived as German icon Lothar Matthaus harshly blasted, labeling this a “farce.”

At the 2023 Golden Ball awards ceremony, which took place at the Chatelet auditorium in Paris, France, none other than Argentine sensation Lionel Messi emerged as the main figure. In his remarkable career, Lionel Messi has received eight Golden Balls. The Argentine celebrity had received recognition seven times before, in the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021. But the celebration of Lionel Messi’s eighth Golden Ball was short-lived as German great Lothar Matthaus harshly blasted, labelling this a “farce.”

“Over the last 12 months, Ernst Haaland has been the best player.” With Man City, he set scoring records and won major championships like the Premier League and Champions League. I can’t think of anything better than Haaland. The 1990 World Cup winner stated on the Sky Sport TV channel, “The vote for Messi is clearly a farce, nothing more, nothing less.”

Matthaus, who was involved in five World Cup finals (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998), also mentioned that Norwegian striker Haaland had the most consistent performance during the previous season. This is the reason the German icon thought that Messi’s selection was “unfair” at the Golden Ball presentation in 2023. 

“Messi shouldn’t have won the Golden Ball. Regarding Messi, the 2022 World Cup champion, Matthaus remarked, “But you can see that the World Cup championship title is more valuable than everything else.”