Recently, the British ** "Mirror" used artificial intelligence chatgpt to select the top ten rankings of the 2023 Golden Ball Awards, of which Messi is still the first, and Haaland fell to the fifth.
At most, the decline has happened not with Haaland, but with Vinicius. Real Madrid's star finished last on the new list after a season with only the Spanish Copa del Rey.
Brazil's Vini scored 23 goals in all competitions, the best of his career, including a goal against Manchester City in the Champions League semi-finals. However, Real Madrid lost that game 5-1 on aggregate, while Real Madrid trailed Barcelona by 10 points in La Liga.
Rodri scored some important goals for Manchester City, with his winner in the Champions League final being one of the latest examples. His goal in Istanbul ended up being the only goal of the game as Manchester City beat Inter Milan to complete the treble. However, this is not enough for our AI. He dropped a few places to become the lowest-ranked Manchester City player on the list.
Gundogan joins his former midfield partner ahead of the German who left Manchester City to join Barcelona in the summer but won three trophies in his final season.
After scoring to help City win the league title in 2022, he scored again 12 months later, this time in the FA Cup final, where his two goals helped beat Manchester United.
Not much has changed with Osimhen, who still can't make it into the top five despite the Nigerian player jumping from eighth to seventh.
Osimhen's 26 goals helped Napoli end a generation's wait to win the Serie A title and win the Serie A top scorer award, becoming the first African player to receive the accolade. Although the defending champions have had a tricky season, their leader Osimhen still scored six goals in 12 games.
Alvarez's debut season in the English Football League could hardly have been better. His own goals have been a big reason why he has won three trophies, scoring 17 goals in all competitions, including one against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.
He surpassed some of the other Manchester City players on this list, which may have something to do with his performances for Argentina at the World Cup. He scored four goals at the World Cup in Qatar, including two in the semi-finals to help Argentina win the title.
In his debut season in the Premier League, Haaland did almost everything that was asked of him. His 36 goals remain incredible, while he contributed four hat-tricks in the league in 2022-23.
If we were to be harsh, we might point out that he failed to score in the semi-finals and finals of the two cup competitions won by Manchester City. However, he still scored 12 goals in 11 Champions League games, which of course counts.
Lewandowski, like Haaland, left the Bundesliga in the summer of 2022 to move to a new territory. However, unlike his former rival, he celebrated his 34th birthday shortly after.
All of this makes his record of 33 goals scored against Barcelona very impressive, 23 of which have come in the domestic league. The veteran emerged as the top scorer in La Liga and helped Poland reach the last 16 of the World Cup, but you can judge for yourself whether this deserves a high ranking more than Haaland's achievement.
Kylian Mbappe scored eight goals at the World Cup, sorry Mbappe, the AI is in line with the Ballon d'Or voters and still thinks you're right in third place. The French striker may not be too disappointed, though, as he admits Messi should beat him.
The former Monaco star was Ligue 1's top scorer with 29 goals and was the top scorer at the World Cup, scoring a hat-trick in the final. If that hat-trick is enough to help France beat Argentina, he could well finish on the podium.
There is still one Manchester City player at the top of the AI rankings, but not their top scorer. Kevin De Bruyne went off injured in the first half of the Champions League final, but he had already had another impressive season before then.
The Belgian has 16 assists in the Premier League, the best in the league, and no one in the Champions League has come close to his seven. And his ability to score big goals in big games.
Messi carries his Ballon d'Or and wears the jersey of Inter Miami, and in the list, both robots and humans agree that Messi is still number one. Messi, like Kevin De Bruyne, provided 16 assists in the league to help his side win the title, while he also scored 16 goals. However, his performances at the World Cup were even more prominent, with his seven goals and three assists helping Argentina end their long wait to win the title.
I can't imagine having the career I've had and everything I've achieved, and I've had the privilege of being part of the best team in history. Messi said as he accepted the award. He may not need the additional recognition of AI, but he still gets it.