The blond colossus of Manchester City seems best equipped to leave the Eventim Apollo, the theater in the British capital which is hosting the ceremony on Monday (8:30 p.m.), with an extra trophy under his arm.
Unlike the 2023 Ballon d’Or, which went to Lionel Messi in October, the votes do not take into account the 2022 World Cup, which harms the Argentinian as much as the Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, his two competitors, opposed in the final in Qatar.
The jury made up of captains, coaches of the national teams, journalists but also supporters from around the world, who could vote by registering on the Fifa website, had to consider the performances achieved between the men’s World Cup (19 December 2022) and the Women’s World Cup final on August 20, 2023.
A royal road therefore opens for Haaland, an unstoppable goal machine rewarded with coronations in the league, FA Cup and Champions League at the end of a fantastic 2022-2023 season, his first in the Manchester jersey City.
The 23-year-old Norwegian shattered all the doubts surrounding his arrival at the Skyblues, a possession team with remarkable technical finesse, double title holder in the Premier League without a real N.9 to fix the opposing defenses.
He dusted off the record for goals in a season in the very tough English championship: 35 in 36 matches, three more than the old ceiling set by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole since the 1990s.
Over the period covered by the votes, he scored 28 times in 33 matches, with 7 out of 7 in the Champions League, the premier competition in Europe, which City won for the first time in its history, in the final. against Inter Milan.
The premature end of Paris Saint-Germain’s run, from the round of 16, seriously undermines the chances of coronation in London for Messi and Mbappé.
The Frenchman has however overcome the immense disappointment of a World Cup which escaped him in Lusail, despite his hat-trick and his successful shot on goal, by scoring 17 goals in the last 20 Ligue 1 matches, enough to ensure Paris SG an eleventh national title.
Among the women, the prize list and the talent displayed on the field both point to the Spaniard Aitana Bonmati, in the running against her compatriot Jennifer Hermoso and the Colombian Linda Caicedo.
Before celebrating her 26th birthday on Thursday, the elegant FC Barcelona midfielder goes to London escorted by her prestigious individual awards (Ballon d’Or, best UEFA player of the year) and two supreme collective trophies: the Champions League and the World Cup, two competitions in which she was named best player.
Her ex-teammate at Barça, “Jenni” Hermoso, played last season at CF Pachuca, in the less competitive Mexican championship. But she found the light again at the Australian World Cup, with three goals and two assists.
The top scorer in the history of La Roja found herself, unwillingly, at the heart of a global scandal after being forcibly kissed on the podium of the World Cup by the president of her Federation, Luis Rubiales. The leader was punished with a three-year suspension from all functions in football by Fifa.
At just 18 years old, Caicedo invited herself into the world elite by making a splash with Colombia, notably with a superb goal against Germany before reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup. The former Deportivo de Cali nugget plays for Real Madrid.
