Victor Osimhen has made history to finish in eighth place in the 2023 Ballon d’Or rankings. The striker beat the likes of Mohamed Salah, Robert Lewandowski, 2018 winner Luka Modric, 2021 winner Karim Benzema and treble-winning captain Ilkay Gündogan.
This finish places him in African history alongside President George Weah, Nwankwo Kanu, Sadio Mané and Salah himself, who is one of four players to have made the last five Ballon d'Or nominees list.
Ranked at the 8th place for the 2023 Men's Ballon d'Or!@victorosimhen9@sscnapoli@NGSuperEagles#ballondor pic.twitter.com/3wt1DoCSta
— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@ballondor) October 30, 2023
It is a thing of pride for fans of the Nigeria national football team and for Victor Osimhen himself, who had faced many challenges in his career.
Victor Osimhen Ballon d'Or finish: The journey to greatness
Victor Osimhen may not have won the 2023 Ballon d'Or because competing with and winning against a phenomenon like Lionel Messi on the individual level is something not many players can manage.
The Super Eagles ace made history with the nomination after making history with one of the best individual seasons that the Italian Serie A has ever come across.
The league that has produced legends like Diego Armando Maradona after whom Napoli's stadium is named, Paolo Maldini, Carlo Ancelotti, Marco Van Basten, Alessandro Del Piero, President George Weah and more will now see their history books include the name of the boy from Olusosun.
Facing off against the likes of Lautaro Martinez, Olivier Giroud, Edin Dzeko, Romelu Lukaku and the likes, Osimhen came out tops to win the 2022/23 Capocannoniere award for top scorer. Not only did he break a Napoli record with the win, he also brought immense joy to the Partenopei by giving them a Scudetto title to celebrate after 33 years.
As a result, the cream of the crop in European football is going after his signature and the former LOSC Lille man is threatening the position of the likes of Nwankwo Kanu, John Obi Mikel and Augustine “Jay Jay” Okocha as Nigeria's most recognisable football icons.
He has been recognised as the eighth best footballer from the 2022/23 football season beating the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane, FIFA World Cup winner Lautaro Martinez and many more. Here are the full rankings of the 2023 Ballon d'Or awards.
| Rank | Player | Club | Nationality | Titles and accomplishments |
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Inter Miami | Argentina | FIFA World Cup, Ligue 1, FIFA World Cup Golden Ball, FIFA World Cup Silver Boot |
| 2 | Erling Haaland | Manchester City | Norway | UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, Premier League golden boot, Premier League player of the season |
| 3 | Kylian Mbappe | Paris Saint-Germain | France | FIFA World Cup runner-up, Ligue 1, Ligue 1 golden boot, Ligue 1 Player of the Year, FIFA World Cup golden boot. FIFA World Cup silver ball |
| 4 | Kevin De Bruyne | Manchester City | Belgium | UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup |
| 5 | Rodri | Manchester City | Spain | UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League player of the season |
| 6 | Vinicius Jnr | Real Madrid | Brazil | FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Copa del Rey |
| 7 | Julian Alvarez | Manchester City | Argentina | FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup |
| 8 | Victor Osimhen | Napoli | Nigeria | Serie A, Capocannoniere, Serie A best striker award |
| 9 | Bernardo Silva | Manchester City | Portugal | UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup |
| 10 | Luka Modric | Real Madrid | Croatia | FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Copa del Rey |
| 11 | Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | Egypt | FA Community Shield |
| 12 | Robert Lewandowski | Barcelona | Poland | LaLiga, Pichichi award |
| 13 | Yassine Bounou | Al-Hilal | Morocco | UEFA Europa League |
| 14 | Ilkay Gündogan | Barcelona | Germany | UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup |
| 15 | Emiliano Martinez | Aston Villa | Argentina | FIFA World Cup |
| 16 | Karim Benzema | Al-Ittihad | France | FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Copa del Rey |
| 17 | Kvicha Kvaratskhelia | Napoli | Georgia | Serie A |
| 18 | Jude Bellingham | Real Madrid | England | |
| 19 | Harry Kane | Bayern Munich | England | |
| 20 | Lautaro Martinez | Inter Milan | Argentina | FIFA World Cup, Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana, UEFA Champions League runner up |
| 21 | Antoine Griezmann | Atlético de Madrid | France | FIFA World Cup runner-up |
| 22 | Kim Min-jae | Bayern Munich | South Korea | Serie A |
| 23 | André Onana | Manchester United | Cameroon | UEFA Champions League runner-up |
| 24 | Bukayo Saka | Arsenal | England | |
| 25 | Josko Gvardiol | Manchester City | Croatia | DFB-Pokal |
| 26 | Jamal Musiala | Bayern Munich | Germany | German Bundesliga, German Super Cup |
| 27 | Nicolo Barella | Inter Milan | Italy | Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana, UEFA Champions League runner up |
| 28 | Randal Kolo Muani | Paris Saint-Germain | France | FIFA World Cup runner up |
| 28 | Martin Ødegaard | Arsenal | Norway | |
| 30 | Ruben Dias | Manchester City | Portugal | UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup |
Victor Osimhen Ballon d'Or final ranking: Goalball Live assessment
When the 2023 Ballon d'Or nominees list came out with the name Victor Osimhen included in it, Goalball Live made a prediction.
According to our analysis of the 24-year-old striker's competition, we believed that he would finish in seventh place in the final rankings. France Football, the organisers of the awards, culled the votes which could only earn him an eighth-place finish which is not wide off the mark.
Eighth place is fair for his exploits because of the weight of the individual and collective accolades of the players occupying seventh place and above. However, we at Goalball Live feel that names like Vinicius Jnr and Julian Alvarez finishing above Osimhen are debatable.
This article was most recently revised and updated 2 hours ago
