Top football moments in 2023

Top football moments in 2023



The year 2023 blessed fans across the globe with many memorable moments in the world of football.

It was a year filled with incredible individual performances, thrilling matches, and historic achievements, making it a year that will be remembered for years to come.

From Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen’s remarkable feat and Lionel Messi’s world record eight Ballon d’Or to Ronaldo’s big-money Saudi move, PUNCH Online highlights five, among many others, remarkable memories of 2023.

Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen led Napoli to Serie A victory

Nigerian striker, Victor Osimhen, led Napoli as they secured the Italian Serie A title after 33 years.

That marked Osimhen’s first club title in his professional career, as his contributions were of great importance to Napoli in the Serie A last season, having scored 26 goals in 32 appearances.

For the first time since 1990, Napoli became the champions of Italy after the elite Nigerian striker scored the equaliser, which secured their 1-1 draw against Udinese to win the title for the third time in their history. Prior to now, Napoli last won the title in the Diego Maradona-led teams in 1987 and 1990.






Osimehn ends the year after a remarkable feat as the Serie A striker of the 2022–23 season and the Italian Footballers’ Association Player of the Year (first African to achieve the feat), among others.

Victor Osimhen crowned his 2023 on Monday, 11th December 2023, when he was named CAF’s Player of the Year, beating Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Morocco’s Archraf Hakimi to the prestigious award. Before now, the last Nigerian to win the award was Nwankwo Kanu in 1999. Osimehn broke a 24-year drought for Nigeria.


Lionel Messi wins his eighth (8th) Ballon d’Or

Lionel Messi was crowned the Ballon d’Or 2023 winner on October 30 at a ceremony in Paris, his eighth time winning the prestigious award.

In December 2022, Messi led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup victory in Qatar, the first time he had won the tournament, which ended a 36-year drought for La Albiceleste.




The 36-year-old scored twice in a nail-biting final against France in December, which ended 3-3 after extra time, and also scored in the penalty shoot-out, earning him player of the match honours.

Messi defeated Erling Haaland of Manchester City and Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain, as well as 26 other nominations, to win the honour. His closest rival, Portuguese attacker, Cristiano Ronaldo, has five (5) Ballon d’Ors to his name.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi Arabia big money move inspires other prominent transfers

Although officially signing for Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr on December 30 2022, the 2023 year marked the beginning of a new phase for football legend and Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and that of the Saudi Pro League as a whole.

According to multiple reports, the 38-year-old is being paid around $213 million (£173m) a year by Al Nassr.
Notably, only a portion of this is due to his actually playing football, with image rights and commercial deals reportedly accounting for more than half of his overall earnings while in Saudi Arabia.



Ronaldo’s move has inspired other notable world-class players to move to the Saudi Pro League in 2023 including Neymar Jr who moved to Al Hilal for £76.9m ($97.8m) in August 2023; Sadio Mane, who joined Ronaldo at Al Nassr for £24m ($30m) in August 2023; 2022 Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, who moved to Al Ittihad on a free transfer in June; and former Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante, who moved to Al Ittihad on a free transfer in June.




Other players like Gini Wijnaldum (Al Ettifaq), Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal), Aleksandar Mitrovic (Al Hilal), Otavio (Al Nassr), Aymeric Laporte (Al Nassr), Fabinho (Al Ittihad), Franck Kessie (Al Ahli), Allan Saint-Maximin (Al Ahli), Riyad Mahrez (Al Ahli), Jordan Henderson (Al Ettifaq), Malcom (Al Hilal), Romain Saiss (Al Sadd), Alex Telles (Al Nassr), Seko Fofana (Al Nassr), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Al Hilal), Roberto Firmino (Al Ahli), Marcelo Brozovic (Al Nassr), lJota (Al Ittihad), Edouard Mendy (Al Ahli), Ruben Neves (Al Hilal), Kalidou Koulibaly (Al Hilal), among others, secured their move to the Saudi Pro League.

Manchester City win the treble, including the Champions League

Manchester City achieved the historic feat of winning the Treble in 2023. They secured the Premier League title, FA Cup, and most importantly, their first-ever Champions League trophy, solidifying their dominance both domestically and internationally.

City had long aspired to win the Champions League since the Abu Dhabi United group bought the club in 2008, and much more so after Guardiola took over as coach in 2016. It has taken 15 years and more than £2 billion in expenditure for City to become what they have long desired and felt they should be – the undeniably finest team in Europe.

They became only the second English side to win all three of Europe’s major trophies, the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the European Championship. Before this, Manchester United’s pride and delight was the treble, but City has now matched that feat.



This achievement cemented their place among the elite clubs in football history, joining the likes of Barcelona, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich as Treble winners. It also marked Pep Guardiola’s second Treble win as a manager, further solidifying his legendary status.


Two Nigerians announce themselves in the spotlight

Punch Online spotlights two of many young Nigerian players who have announced themselves in 2023

Victor Boniface: Nigerian striker Victor Boniface has made a blistering start to his Bayer Leverkusen career, with eight goals and six assists in his 14 Bundesliga games added to the Bundesliga Player of the Month award for August and scooping the Bundesliga Rookie of the Month four times this season.



The 22-year-old Akure-born striker made his Super Eagle’s debut on September 10, 2023. In his four appearances for Nigeria, he has one goal and one assist, with many more expected to come.

Gift Orban: 21-year-old Gift Orban has had an electrifying start to his career on the world stage. On January 31, 2023, Orban joined Belgian Pro League side Gent on a permanent deal. On February 11, Orban scored two goals on his Pro League debut in a 3-3 draw with Westerlo, hence announcing himself as a promising gem in attack.






Orban this season has a total tally of 12 goals in 25 appearances across all competitions. The youngster got his first senior team call back in September