How difficult is it to win the Golden Ball before the age of 23? Only 4 people have achieved this in history, Ronaldo misses, and the Barcelona young player is expected to set a record!

For all football players, the highest honor of the team is undoubtedly the champion of major leagues, and the highest honor of the individual is the Golden Globe Award. Just like the MVP in the basketball world, being able to win the Golden Globe of the Year proves that you are the number one person in the world football world this year. Looking back at the entire history of football, there are only 4 players who can win this honor before the age of 23. However, when Ronaldo first won the championship, he was 23 years old and 299 days, so he regretted not to be the list. Although Barcelona young player Lamin Yamal is only 17 years old, he has always been in a leading position in this year's Golden Ball candidate list and may create new history. Let’s take a look at which players won the Golden Globes before the age of 23!

4: George Best

Age of winning: 22 years and 212 days

The first player in history to win the Golden Globes before the age of 23 is the late Manchester United legend George Best. Time returned to the 67-68 season. The 22-year-old Best played the peak of his career. In 41 League One games, he scored a total of 28 league goals, becoming the winner of the League One Golden Boot this year. Although he failed to help Manchester United win the championship, on the field of the Champions League, Best helped the team defeat two giants Real Madrid and Benfica, becoming the first English football club to win the Champions League, which is of great significance. Moreover, from the outside world's eyes, Best's game style is very artistic, and it is very difficult to play both artistic and practical. Therefore, after the end of this season, he also won the English FWA Footballer and the European Footballer of the Year, which was later the Golden Globe Award. At that time, he was only 22 years and 212 days old, setting the youngest record at that time. At the same time, he was also the first Northern Ireland Golden Ball winner, creating the history of the country.

Third place: Leonel Messi

Award-winning age: 22 years and 212 days

Messi ranks third. As one of the greatest stars in football history, although he will turn 38 next month, Messi's condition is very good. If nothing unexpected happens, he will still lead the Argentine national team to compete in next year's US-Canada-Mexico World Cup. Looking back at Messi's career, it can be said that it is full of legendary flavor, and his legendary starting point is that fantastic 2008-09 season. Messi scored a total of 38 goals and 17 assists this year, especially in the Champions League, scoring a total of 9 goals and winning the Golden Boot of the Champions League. At the same time, he helped Barcelona win major championships such as La Liga, King's Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup and Spanish Super Cup this year, becoming the first "six-champion" in football history. It is precisely because of this that Messi directly swept a number of awards including UEFA Club Footballer, UEFA Club Best Forward, La Liga season best player, and won the first Golden Globe Award in his life. This is a meaningful season.

Second place: Michael Irving

Age of winning: 22 years and 4 days

The second youngest Golden Globe winner in history is the former legendary English superstar Michael Irving. Although Irving's later career was not that successful, it has to be said that during his time as Liverpool, he was indeed the top five superstar in the world. Time came to the 200-01 season. At that time, Irving was extremely dominant. He scored a total of 24 goals on all fronts and gave 8 assists, leaving behind many classic scenes. In the FA Cup final, he scored two goals in a row at the last moment, helping the team reverse and defeating Arsenal. In the Community Shield Final, he helped Liverpool defeat his arch-rival Manchester United, and finally led Liverpool to the "five champions" record in the FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and Community Shield in this year. Therefore, with his outstanding personal performance and the blessing of team honors, Irving, who was only 22 years old and four days at the time, won the most important honor in his career, namely the Golden Globe Award.

First place: Ronaldo

Award-winning Age: 21 years and 96 days

As of this year, the youngest Golden Ball winner in history is still Ronaldo in the 1996-97 season. At that time, Ronaldo was in his prime. At the age of 21, he had just transferred from Eindhoven in the Eredivisie to Barcelona in La Liga, and his net worth reached 20 million US dollars, which was a very high transfer fee at the time. After coming to Barcelona, ​​Ronaldo also showed his extremely terrifying personal ability. In this season, he played 37 times in the league, scored 34 goals, and scored 47 goals in all competitions. In the end, there was no suspense. He brought the La Liga Golden Boot and the European Golden Boot home together. In addition, during this season, he also helped Barcelona win the Spanish Super Cup and European Cup Winners respectively, so his personal performance and team honors were completely enough. In the end, Ronaldo, who was 21 years old and 96 days old, became the youngest Golden Globe winner in history.