Nigeria and Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen achieves a record-setting Ballon d’Or finish at the 2023 ceremony in Paris to cap a remarkable 2022/2023 season.
The 24-year-old was the highest placed African on the list beating the likes of Andre Onana of Cameroon who finished 23rd, Yassine Bounou of Morocco who was 13th, and Mohamed Salah of Egypt who came in at 11th.
George Weah of Liberia remains the only African player to win the grand prize.
Osimhen Achieves Record-Setting Ballon d’Or Finish
Osimhen’s 2023 Ballon d’Or 8th position finish makes him the first Nigerian to finish in the top 10 Ballon d’Or ranking.
Also, he is the 7th Nigerian to get recognition in football’s top individual prize. Sunday Oliseh, Jay-Jay Okocha, Daniel Amokachi, Findi George, Victor Ikpeba, and Nwankwo Kanu have all taken this same path to Ballon d’Or glory. The closest to the podium before Osimhen was Nwankwo Kanu’s 1996 11th-position finish.
Osimhen was instrumental in Napoli winning the Italian Serie A after the club’s 33-year title drought. He also finished as top scorer in the league with 25 goals, becoming the first African to achieve this feat in Italy.
He also led Napoli to a semi-final place finish in the UEFA Champions League which made the gaggling striker 2022/2023 season one to remember and assures the Nigerian of a crystal clear future.
Osimhen’s eyes will now be on clinching the prize of African best player next year, which already seems like a no-brainer.
Argentinian captain Lionel Messi emerge as the 2023 winner of the Ballon d’Or, winning his eight title.
Furthermore, the wins puts Messi as the player with the most Ballon d’Or wins. He has three more awards than his closest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo.