Winning the Ballon d’Or is every soccer player’s dream. It is the most prestigious individual award in soccer and has been a huge part of the game since it was first awarded in 1956 to Blackpool’s Stanley Matthews. The award has been heavily dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo since 2008.
Lionel Messi won his 8th Ballon d’Or yesterday, but a blooper by the official Ballon d’Or account caused quite a stir on social media. The account acknowledged England great Gary Lineker as the winner of the 1968 Ballon d’Or, leading to widespread disbelief from fans on the internet who were quick to point out the actual winner.
Official Ballon d’Or account gets fact-checked by community notes
Whoever was in charge of the Ballon d’Or official social media accounts did not have a good day at the office last night. They declared England legend Gary Lineker as the winner of the 1986 edition of the prestigious award, getting immediately fact-checked by X’s new community notes.
The former Barcelona striker was introduced to the stage for the 2023 Ballon d’Or award show, which was later presented to Lionel Messi, who became the award winner for a record eighth time.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Gary Lineker 1986 Ballon d’Or winner,” the Ballon d’Or official account posted.
It must have been an honest mistake from the account admin, who mistook second-placed Gary Lineker as the winner of the 1986 version of the global individual trophy. The Englishman lost out to Ukrainian Igor Belanov, who was representing Dynamo Kyiv at the time.
Lineker himself was playing for Barcelona at the time until 1989, when he left the Catalan club to join Tottenham Hotspur. He has since become a famous pundit, most especially for BBC Sport.
While Lineker failed to clinch the famous individual trophy in his playing days, his compatriot Jude Bellingham claimed the Kopa Trophy last night and will have plenty of time to challenge for the top prize in future years, especially with the flourishing start to life at Real Madrid.
The real winner of 1986 Ballon d’Or
Igor Belanov claimed the 1986 Ballon d’Or, piping England and Barcelona’s Gary Lineker and was involved in this year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony as one of the members of the Kopa Trophy’s voting panel, which Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham won.
Belanov is one of the three Ukrainian players to have ever won the award, with Oleg Blokhin and AC Milan’s Andriy Shevchenko being the others. 1986 was an impressive year for Belanov, who won the European Cup Winner’s Cup with Dynamo Kyiv. He scored five goals in the tournament and carried the form into the World Cup, almost beating Lineker to the World Cup Golden Boot with four goals.
Lionel Messi is the current winner after piping Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe to this year’s award, drawing congratulatory messages from ex-teammates Ronaldinho and Neymar.
With the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Karim Benzema now out of the European picture, who will win the 2024 edition of the prestigious award? Drop your predictions in the comments.
