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By virtue of his incredible heroics at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Lionel Messi bagged yet another Ballon d'Or on Monday. This is the eighth time that the legendary Argentinian has walked away with the most prestigious individual prize in football.
In addition to being the best player at the World Cup last year, Messi also had a good domestic season with Paris Saint-Germain. His contributions were vital to the Parisians winning the Ligue 1 title. Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri completed the top five slots in the Ballon d'Or race.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five ranks that surprised us in the 2023 Ballon d'Or.
#5 Bernardo Silva - 9th
While Bernardo Silva did win the continental treble with Manchester City, he was not at his very best last season. He was certainly an important player for City in the 2022-23 season but wasn't influential enough to finish inside the top 10 in the race for the Ballon d'Or.
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Silva had a forgettable outing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and failed to conjure anything of note for Portugal in the tournament. The 29-year-old scored only seven goals and provided eight assists in 55 appearances across all competitions for City last term.
The Portugal international eventually finishing above the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan came as a surprise.
#4 Yassine Bounou - 13th
Yassine Bounou impressed at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. His solid performances between the sticks were crucial to the Atlas Lions' impressive run to the semi-finals in Qatar. Bounou was also formidable for Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League, helping the Andalusians win the competition for a seventh time.
However, Bounou finishing above the likes of Gundogan and Emiliano Martinez, at 14th and 15th respectively, was surprising. Emiliano Martinez was immense for Argentina at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and his heroics were critical to their triumphant run in the tournament.
#3 Karim Benzema - 16th
The 2022 Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema was quite effective for Real Madrid in the 2022-23 season, his final one for the Spanish giants. He scored 31 goals and provided six assists in 43 appearances across all competitions for Los Blancos last term.
But it's worth noting that only 23 of those goals came in the La Liga and Champions League combined. In fact, the Frenchman only made 24 La Liga appearances last term and Barcelona pipped Real Madrid to the league title as well.
Benzema finished above the breakout star of the 2022-23 season, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who was in impressive form for Napoli as they won the Serie A title last term. He also finished above the likes of Harry Kane, Antoine Griezmann and even Bukayo Saka, who all arguably had better campaigns at an individual level.
#2 Martin Odegaard - 29th
Martin Odegaard ended up at 29th in the Ballon d'Or rankings and that's a huge disservice to the sheer quality he produced for Arsenal last season.
The Norwegian midfielder wore the captain's armband with passion and grace for the Gunners and led them from the front as they gave Manchester City a run for their money in the Premier League title race. Odegaard contributed 15 goals and eight assists in 37 league appearances last term.
He didn't win any silverware but should have finished much higher in the Ballon d'Or rankings.
#1 Luka Modric - 10th
Luka Modric did a solid job for Croatia at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Despite starting to slow down in his late 30s, Modric still showed that he can turn in excellent performances at the highest level of the game. But that's about as much as we can say about Modric's 2022-23 campaign.
He started just 19 La Liga matches for Real Madrid and although he did produce moments of quality sporadically, he was nowhere close to hitting the levels he did in previous seasons. Modric scored six goals and provided six assists in 52 appearances in all competitions for Real Madrid last term.
He did not win any major trophy other than the Copa del Rey. But Modric still finished above treble-winner Gundogan, who had much better numbers and was a hugely influential figure in Manchester City's historic campaign.
The Croatian midfield maestro also finished above Robert Lewandowski, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Antoine Griezmann.
