The year 2023 in football had one of the toughest jobs: to live up to the sky-high standards set by 2022. And with good reason, as the year 2022 gave us Lionel Messi as the World Cup winner, a dream run by Real Madrid in the Champions League, a crazy final day of the Premier League on top of an incredible World Cup which saw upsets and fairy tales such as the incredible run of the Moroccan football team.
However, the year 2023 proved to be as good as its predecessor, bringing us moments that reminded us why football is the greatest game on the planet. As fans, we witnessed records tumble, new champions crowned, and new superstars born.
And as the year comes to an end, we can’t help but admire the footballing memories that this year has given us. With a new year approaching, we can only hope for better and bigger things in football that continue to amaze and inspire the game we all love.
So, here are the top 10 moments of 2023 in football.
Lionel Messi wins record eighth Ballon d’Or
It was all but confirmed on December 18, 2022, that Lionel Messi was the hot favourite for the 2023 Ballon d’Or. The Argentine maestro had conquered his final peak by adding the World Cup to his already long list of titles and accolades.
However, just like Messi, there was another man by the name of Erling Haaland who was hot on his heels by having a season that only a few footballers have achieved in their careers. Messi had already won the trophy seven times, but capping off his World Cup with another one would have genuinely completed his legacy.
And this is what happened as he defeated Haaland by 105 votes to emerge as the winner.
Manchester City script history with treble
Before June 10, 2023, Manchester City had won 22 trophies since their takeover by their UAE owners in September 2008. This was an impressive achievement for the club, especially given that seven of these trophies were in the Premier League, five of which came in the last six seasons.
However, despite this, one trophy that eluded them was the Champions League, which they had come very close to winning in recent years. That all changed on a June night at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.
City were coming off an incredible campaign, having already won the Premier League and FA Cup, but they had their eyes on the Champions League. And they reached it by navigating their most competitive run in the tournament.
First, they topped their group, comprising teams such as Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla. This was followed by clashes with RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Having defeated these teams, they faced Italian powerhouses Inter Milan.
And they won the game 1-0 in a tightly contested game. It was perhaps CIty’s worst display, but in true champions style, they managed to grind out an ugly win that etched their name into football folklore.
Cristiano Ronaldo Lionel Messi Europe saga ends
The period between 2006-2023 can be described as the era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The duo dazzled football fans and created perhaps the greatest rivalry ever in football, especially during their time in Spain, which saw some of the finest ‘El-Clasico’ clashes.
However, in six months, both superstars ended their European hiatus and went to different leagues. While Ronaldo went to the Saudi Pro League after having his contract terminated by Manchester United, Messi chose Florida as his new base by joining MLS Inter Miami.
For the first time, either of the two players were playing for a club outside Europe. In a nutshell, this marked the end of their top-level football career. This, however, hasn’t meant that they are not still producing the goods. In fact, both have won one trophy for their clubs.
And with a game scheduled between Inter Miami and Al-Nassr later this year, fans might witness the last clash between the two legends that have defined the game for the last decade and more.
Napoli win Serie A title in style
If one team was performing at its best for most of the last season, it was no doubt Napoli, who blew off all competition in the Italian league, winning it by a 16-point difference. While the entire team ran like a well-oiled machine, the show’s stars were the impeccable;e attacking duo of Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen and their new signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia combined for 45 goals and 22 assists.
Their incredible season saw them start with a 15-game unbeaten streak, which included 13 wins. With 26 goals, Osimhen won the Serie A Golden Boot, becoming the first African to do so. He also became the second person after Zlatan Ibrahimovic to win the Golden Boot and Serie A in the same season.
Erling Haaland destroys records left, right and centre
In the summer of 2022, Manchester City shelled out a fee of €60 million to sign Erling Haaalnd from Borussia Dortmund. And even before he kicked a ball, it was considered a brilliant deal for City. What followed made this brilliant deal perhaps the best in CIty’s history.
The Norwegian was a man on a mission who broke every Premier League scoring record. First, he became the fastest player to ten goals in Premier League history, a feat he achieved in six appearances. He then kept this pace and broke the record for the fastest 20 and 25 goals in the league.
He ended the season with 52 goals, the most by a player in the Premier League. Thirty-six of these goals came in the league, which was also a record. Haaland ended the season with three trophies, finally helping City complete their quest for a Champions League trophy.
Saudi Pro League flexes its muscles in the transfer market
Saudi Pro League started the New Year in style by unveiling Cristiano Ronaldo. However, this was only the start, as the league added many stars over the summer transfer window. The Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, also threw its weight behind the project by acquiring a 75 per cent stake in four clubs: Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli, and Al-Ittihad.
With an enormous sum, these four clubs came into the transfer market with a vigour to buy players who had played top-level football but were now in the twilight of their careers. Neymar, Sadio Mane, Kalidou Koulibaly, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Franck Kessie, Georginio Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Moussa Dembele, Ruben Neves, Otavio, Yassine Bounou, Marcelo Brozovic, Riyad Mahrez, Aymeric Laporte, N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema and many others made the big move on lucrative contracts.
With the Saudi state pumping in more financial resources for their Vision 2020m, expect more players to take the plane to the desert kingdom.
Spain’s World Cup win overshadowed by harassment scandal
The Spanish women’s football team scripted history as they won their maiden title by beating England in the final. This was an incredible achievement for the team. However, the moment of a lifetime turned into a nightmare after some objectionable behaviour by Spanish FA President Luis Rubiales.
Jenni Hermoso, the victim of Rubiales’ conduct, was pressured by him to appear in his apology video. On top of that, Spain’s manager, Jorge Vilda, also tried to contact her family to coax them to support Rubiales.
Even after the widespread criticism, Rubiales refused to resign. Taking cognizance of the matter, FIFA first suspended him for three months from any administrative duties in football-related activities. This was later increased to three years. Along with him, Vilda was fired and is now the coach for Morocco’s men’s national football team.
The investigation on Rubiales’s conduct is still ongoing in Spain.
Everton, Manchester City, Juventus embroiled in scandals.
Last year, three clubs found themselves embroiled in financial scandals. Juventus, who are no strangers to controversy, were found guilty of showing inflated figures from transfers to show more profits on paper.
The investigation had begun earlier but was closed after Juventus defended themselves by stating that a player’s transfer value is subjective and depends from club to club. However, the investigation was reopened after new evidence emerged that the club had deliberately inflated their figures to increase their valuation. Named Plusvalenza, it was one of the biggest scandals in Italian football and led to a deduction of 15 points from Juventus’ tally.
Meanwhile, Manchester City were also investigated on 115 violations of the Financial Fair Play (FFP) charges by the Premier League. The charges on City date back to as long as the 2009-10 season. Most of the charges relate to City providing the league with incorrect financial statements that allowed them to break FFP rules between 2009 and 2018, where they won multiple trophies. The investigation regarding this is still going on ‘behind closed doors’.
Everton, however, were less lucky than City as they docked ten points for breaching the league’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) for three seasons. According to the investigation, Everton were allowed to lose £105 million between 2019 and 2022—however, the club accrued losses worth £124.5 million, which led to the deduction.
Luton Town reach dreamland
Achieving a Premier League promotion is a dream come true for any club. However, that dream seems too good to be true if a club plays in the Non-League, the sixth tier of the English football pyramid.
However, this is what Luton Town achieved when they defeated Coventry City in the EFL Championship playoff final on May 27, 2023. In the last three decades, the team has suffered the agony of relegation into non-league football, financial bankruptcy and points deduction.
The club stayed strong as they rebuilt themselves one step at a time, earning promotion through the various lower leagues to reach the summit finally. While they have struggled in the Premier League and are currently in the relegation zone, the platform they’ve built will easily help them return to the Premier League so they drop to the EFL championship this season.
Germany win the under-17 FIFA World Cup
The recent tournaments have yet to be kind to the German national football team as they severely underperformed, whether the senior men’s or women’s team. However, this year, there was a silver lining as the under-17 team finally won their first title at this year’s World Cup held in Indonesia.
Die Mannschaft started their campaign in style, winning all three games to top the group. However, the knockouts represented a different challenge in each game. First, they won a scoring fest against the United States. This was followed by a tightly contested game against Spain, which saw only one goal scored by Paris Brunner.
Germany has always had a brilliant record in penalty shootouts at the World Cup. And it seemed even the youngster had nerves of steel as they triumphed on penalties in the semi-finals and finals to win their maiden title.