PARIS (AFP) -- Lionel Messi is the favourite to win the eighth Ballon d'Or of his remarkable career when this year's ceremony to crown the planet's best footballer takes place in Paris on Monday, Oct. 30, while Spain's World Cup-winning star Aitana Bonmati is tipped to take the women's prize.
The prestigious award has been dominated over the last 15 years by Messi and his old adversary Cristiano Ronaldo, who have won it 12 times between them.
Last season saw Messi lead Argentina to glory at the World Cup in Qatar, where he scored seven times and was named the tournament's best player. The obvious candidate among them is Erling Haaland, who scored 52 goals in 53 games and has already won the UEFA Player of the Year award for last season. He scored 21 goals for the French club, but was clearly never happy in Paris and was even jeered by his own supporters at times, before moving to Inter Miami in Major League Soccer earlier this year.He was clearly PSG's most important player last season, scoring 41 goals, and was also the World Cup's top scorer with eight goals after his incredible hat-trick in that epic final.
Alas, the prize is voted for by a jury of one journalist per country from the top 100 nations in FIFA's ranking.The list of nominees features four members of the Spain team that lifted the Women's World Cup in Sydney in August despite off-field turbulence including protests against the Spanish football federation and coach Jorge Vilda.
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