Lionel Messi has named a group of players he thinks will be in the running to win the Ballon d’Or over the next few years.

Messi holds the record for winning the most Ballon d’Or, having won it eight times.

The Argentine picked only one Real Madrid player in the list – Vinicius Jr.

Lionel Messi also named Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland as future Ballon d’Or winners.

As per L’Equipe, Messi said: “The players to compete for the Ballon d’Or in the coming years? There may be a very beautiful rivalry in the coming years with players like Haaland, Mbappe, Vinicius and many young players competing for the Ballon d’Or.

“I also think that Lamine Yamal, who is still very young and now plays for Barcelona, ​​will play a prominent role and fight for it in the future too.

“Certainly there will be others competing for it, new players that we do not know will appear, because there are always new players, and I think it will be a very beautiful era to enjoy.”