Ballon d’Or 17th place star backs Messi to win the award this year: “No words for what he did”

As we close in on the Ballon d’Or announcement, the competition between Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland is fiercer than ever.

Both players have their own set of reasons as to why they deserve to win the prestigious trophy, though Messi is certainly the crowd favourite, for now.

Many have already backed Messi to seal his eighth Ballon d’Or title tonight, with one of them being Napoli superstar Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Kvaratskhelia backs Messi to win Ballon d’Or

Just before the announcement, Kvaratskhelia has already backed Messi to win the coveted trophy, due to his achievement last year in the FIFA World Cup.

“Leo Messi deserves to win the Ballon d’Or,” Kvaratskhelia said (h/t Fabrizio Romano). “He won the World Cup and I have no words to describe what he did. No words.”

Messi was indeed instrumental in helping Argentina secure their first World Cup title since 1986. He even ended the tournament winning the Man of the Match title.

The former Barcelona superstar scored seven goals and mustered three assists in the competition. He notably scored a brace in the final against France.

Kvaratskhelia, therefore, is convinced that Messi is set to bag his eighth Ballon d’Or title on the night, ahead of Erling Haaland.

Ballon d’Or list so far

We are still a few moments away before the Ballon d’Or announces the final winner of the prestigious trophy.

Four out of six lists are already out, though, with Kvaratskhelia notably racking up 17th place on the list, thanks to his extraordinary season at Napoli last term.

In the most recent list, Mohamed Salah came out at 11th, followed by Barcelona superstar Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan.