Ballon d’Or 2023: I deserve to win award – Mbappe

Paris Saint-Germain forward, Kylian Mbappe, has said he deserves to be nominated to win the 2023 Ballon d’Or award.

Mbappe became the best French scorer over a season with 54 goals for club and country, surpassing the mark set by Just Fontaine in 1957-58, after scoring the winner for France in their 1-0 victory over Greece on Monday.

Mbappe, 25, helped Paris Saint-Germain retain the Ligue 1 title this year and also impressed at the World Cup by winning the Golden Boot and scoring a hat trick in the final against eventual winners Argentina.

When asked about whether he should be considered for this year’s Ballon d’Or, Mbappe told TF1: “It’s always difficult to talk about an individual trophy, because you have to put yourself forward on your own and that’s something that doesn’t necessarily pass in the eyes of the general public.

“The new criteria, it’s about burning eyes, it’s someone who has had an impact … I think I correspond to these criteria, so I would say…yes. But we’ll see.”

The PSG forward will be competing with Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland for this year’s prize.