Erling Haaland backs himself for 2023 Ballon d'Or
- Haaland is among the favourites for this season's Ballon d'Or
- City striker won the treble and broke scoring records
- Lionel Messi & Kylian Mbappe are seen as the main rivals
By Tom Gott
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has admitted he believes he could win this year's Ballon d'Or.
Haaland is among the favourites for the prize this year after bagging 52 goals in just 53 games last season en route to winning the Champions League, Premier League and the FA Cup.
Nobody can rival that CV at club level and Haaland acknowledged he is in with a shout of picking up the Ballon d'Or.
"I believe in myself, I really do," he told France Football. "I know I can still improve a lot, I'm still young. But yes, I think I have a chance this year."
Haaland is up against the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, the latter of whom led Argentina to a famous World Cup triumph during the winter.
READ MORE ON THE 2023 BALLON D'OR NOMINATIONS AND PREDICTED RANKINGS
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That international success could give Messi an advantage in the Ballon d'Or race and Haaland admitted he wants to try and taste his own glory with Norway.
"I dream of accomplishing great things with my country," he said. "We are a small country of barely 5.5m inhabitants, so it is not easy. But I dream of participating in a Euro or a World Cup.
"From there to imagining winning... It's not impossible, but hey... For now, we're above all fighting to simply qualify and that's my goal. First, a qualification for a major tournament; then we can dream of bigger things. It’s a huge challenge and I like challenges."
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