Messi, Haaland’s Records, Napoli’s Win in a 2023 Soccer Recap
Biggest Soccer Stories From 2023
Messi, Napoli, Haaland, Spain Women and More
The men’s World Cup may have happened last year but that doesn’t mean 2023 wasn’t an eventful year in soccer. Lionel Messi won another Ballon d’Or, Napoli won their first title since the days of Diego Maradona and Erling Haaland had a record-breaking first season for Manchester City.
Plus, Spain won the FIFA Women’s World Cup over the Summer. We’ll take a look at these stories and more, with a betting focus, in our 2023 Soccer Recap.
End of an Era
The Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate and rivalry captivated soccer fans for well over a decade. They’re currently the only two players with over 100 Champions League goals and have both won club soccer’s biggest trophy on multiple occasions. They’re two of the best soccer players of all time and they’ve won more Ballon d’Ors than any other player.
This was the year the pair moved out of Europe, ending a golden era of soccer. Cristiano Ronaldo sat down for an explosive interview with Piers Morgan last November just before the World Cup. It ended his Manchester United, and likely European, career and he moved to Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr at the dawn of 2023.
Messi, on the other hand, won the 2022-23 Ligue 1 with PSG before moving to Inter Miami in MLS and winning the Leagues Cup shortly after. Due to his performances with Argentina at last year’s World Cup, he also won his record eighth Ballon d’Or just a couple of months ago.
Lionel Messi since turning 31 years old:
2019:
Ballon D’or
FIFA The Best2020:
FIFA The Best
Laureus sportsman2021:
Ballon D’or2022:
World Cup
World Cup Golden Ball2023:
Ballon D’or
FIFA The Best
Laureus SportsmanLionel Messi’s longevity should be talked about more🐐 pic.twitter.com/BFT1FJd68J
— The Rasal (@RasalFCB) December 21, 2023
Haaland Breaks Records for Man City
Manchester City finally exorcised their Champions League demons in 2023 and picked up their first title. Rodri scored the game’s only goal in the final vs Inter Milan.
It’s highly unlikely City would have won all of the Premier League, FA Cup, UCL and UEFA Super Cup without the contributions of Erling Haaland. The big Norwegian striker joined City from Borussia Dortmund in the Summer of 2022 and immediately hit the ground running.
Our 2023 Soccer Recap notes that Haaland set a Premier League record in his first season in England, with 36 goals. He also led the UEFA Champions League with 12 goals in the 2022-23 campaign and scored a ridiculous 52 goals, in all competitions. For his contributions, Haaland won the award for best UEFA Men’s Player and was the Ballon d’Or runner up.
Napoli Take Serie A by Storm
Diego Maradona is a footballing deity in Naples. He delivered Napoli their first two Serie A titles and the city renamed their stadium after him upon his passing in 2020. Before the 2022-23 season, it looked unlikely that Napoli would win their third Scudetto. Their captain Lorenzo Insigne left the club along with key players Fabian Ruiz, Kalidou Koulibaly and Dries Mertens.
They were +1200 preseason dark horses to win the 2022-24 Serie A title according to the soccer betting odds. Yet, Napoli took Serie A by storm and were runaway winners of the competition. Napoli finished 16 points ahead of every other team and Luciano Spalletti’s side were a joy to watch. Victor Osimhen won the Capocannoniere as Serie A’s top scorer, with 26 league goals.
Georgian sensation Khvicha Kvaratskhelia also scored 12 goals and provided 10 assists. Gio Di Lorenzo, Alex Meret, Stanislav Lobotka and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa were also ever-presents in the Partenopei side that won their first Scudetto since 1990.
Controversy Marrs Spain’s First Women’s World Cup
Amid player protests and multiple notable absences, Spain still came in with the third-best odds to win the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Pre-tournament, Spain sat at +600 odds to take home their first Women’s World Cup title. Still, players were reportedly unhappy with coach Jorge Vilda and tensions were high at the World Cup.
Still, Spain won their first two matches by a combined 8-0 scoreline and easily advanced to the round of 16. They defeated Switzerland 5-1 in the round of 16 as Aitana Bonmati got on the scoresheet twice. Spain advanced from both the Quarter-finals and Semifinals under dramatic circumstances. Salma Paralluelo’s 111th minute goal sunk the Netherlands in the quarters and the Young Player of the tournament also scored the first goal Spain’s next match vs Sweden.
Sweden equalized after Paralluelo’s goal but Olga Carmona scored an 89th minute winner to send Spain to their first-ever Women’s World Cup final. In the final, Carmona came through once again to score the game’s only goal vs England. Bonmati won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.
The tournament started with controversy for Spain and ended the same way as former Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales kissed player Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the celebrations. Finally, amid more player protests Rubiales resigned from his position in September and Vilda was also replaced by new coach Montserrat Tome.
Saudi Spending Spree
In 2023, Saudi Arabia became a major player in club football. The Saudi spending spree started in January when Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr but it reached its peak in the Summer. Some massive names joined the Saudi Pro League including Sadio Mane, Neymar and Karim Benzema. Al-Hilal paid €90 million to secure Neymar’s signature from PSG and in total, the Saudi Pro League spent US$957 million in the Summer 2023 transfer window. That was second only to the Premier League.
That number easily could have gone higher, as Al-Ittihad lodged a world-record $271 million bid for Mohamed Salah in September. Liverpool rejected the bid that would have made Salah the world’s most expensive footballer. Still, the Saudi Pro League has some serious talent.
This Summer alone Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Otavio, Ruben Neves, Yassine Bounou, Aleksandr Mitrovic, Jordan Henderson, Riyad Mahrez, Allan Saint-Maximin, Aymeric Laporte, Seko Fofana, Malcom, Fabinho, Marcelo Brozovic, Yannick Carrasco all joined the league. It’ll be interesting to see if the spending spree continues in January and onward.
Dortmund Blow Title on Final Day
In Edin Terzic’s first full season as Borussia Dortmund head coach, they had a stellar season. All Dortmund had to do to win their first Bundesliga title since 2012 was defeat Mainz 05 at home on the final day of the season. The soccer moneyline odds priced hosts Dortmund as -800 favorites to win the match and break Bayern Munich’s ten title streak. Dortmund were two points ahead of defending Champions Bayern at the beginning of the Matchday.
However, Dortmund ended up tragically drawing 2-2 just as a late goal from Jamal Musiala gave Bayern Munich a win over FC Koln and a record 11th straight Bundesliga crown. Bayern won the Bundesliga on goal difference and entered the final Matchday at just +500 odds to win the title. Even a down year for Bayern’s standards, in which they swapped coach Julian Nagelsmann for Thomas Tuchel, ended in glory.
Other Major Stories
While Manchester City won the Champions League this year, our 2023 Soccer Recap would be incomplete without mentioning the other European champions. Sevilla went on an improbable run to win a record seventh Europa League crown, which is four more than any other side. Sevilla took down Roma in penalties in the final.
Declan Rice’s final act as a West Ham player before joining Arsenal was winning the UEFA Europa Conference League. The former Hammers captain was named the tournament’s best player but it was Jarrod Bowen who scored the winner in the final vs Fiorentina.
In Christophe Galtier’s first and only season as PSG head coach, the Parisians won Ligue 1 by a one-point margin over Lens. Kylian Mbappe won yet another Golden Boot award.
Meanwhile, Xavi’s Barcelona won La Liga for the first time since 2019 and only conceded 20 goals through 38 matches. With some major surprises through the first half of the 2023-24 campaign, stay tuned as 2024’s biggest stories unfold.
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