Mohamed Salah Wants the Ballon d’Or

It should come to no surprise that Mohamed Salah, who has effortlessly gathered nearly every individual accolade possible, is desperate for the biggest one of all. Somehow, in 2021, Salah came in a disappointing seventh place in Ballon d’Or voting, despite his incredible year.

When asked about that, Salah admitted that he was dissatisfied with the result.

“I want to win it to join George Weah, the only African [in 1995],” Salah told L’Equipe via France Football. “It’s true that I was shocked by my ranking in 2021.

“For this year, the defeat against Real Madrid is a disadvantage, even if I played a good game in the final. But it doesn’t cancel out everything I’ve achieved for months.

“Let’s wait for the vote. And if I’m not Ballon d’Or in 2022, I’ll do everything I can to be the next one.”

While the Ballon d’Or is ostensibly meant to judge a player’s season, it’s well known that winning a big team trophy will give a player a leg up on the competition. Salah has been second best in the Premier League, the Champions League, and the African Cup of Nations in 2022, which doesn’t bode well for his chances.

However, Salah has never been the kind of competitor to give up so easily. It would not be surprising if Salah defied the odds to scoop up the trophy sometime in the next few years.