adidas X Crazyfast Messi "Ballon d'Or 2023"

Nicknamed "El Ocho" ("The Eight"), this Adidas X Crazyfast signature boot was created to commemorate Lionel Messi's record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or award, won on October 30, 2023, at the ceremony in Paris — more than double the tally of any other player in the award's history at that point. It stands apart from the other 2023 Messi X Crazyfast colorways ("Infinito," "Las Estrellas," "Bienvenido a Miami") as an ultra-exclusive, largely non-commercial tribute piece rather than a standard limited retail release, produced primarily for Messi himself, alongside a small number of commemorative items for fans.

Messi won his eighth Ballon d'Or on October 30, 2023. Adidas revealed the "El Ocho" boot design in the days immediately following, with detailed coverage published by SoccerBible, Soccer Cleats 101, and others around October 31 through early November 2023. Alongside the boots, Adidas also commissioned eight individual 14-karat gold rings, one for each Ballon d'Or, with proceeds from an associated charitable initiative benefiting causes selected by Messi and Adidas. Messi was expected to first wear the boots on the pitch during Argentina's November 2023 FIFA World Cup qualifying window against Uruguay and Brazil. Argentina hosted Uruguay in Buenos Aires on November 16, 2023, a match preceded by an on-field pre-match ceremony in which Messi was formally honored for his eighth Ballon d'Or — presented with commemorative silver plates and embraced by Argentine football great Juan Román Riquelme amid fireworks, according to Goal.com's coverage — before Argentina lost 0-2, its first defeat since winning the World Cup. Argentina then traveled to face Brazil in Brasília on November 21, 2023. The task brief associated with this entry references a "worn 10 November 2023" date; this could not be independently confirmed from the sources reviewed — no source found documents a Messi match, ceremony, or boot appearance specifically dated November 10, 2023, and the best-documented public unveiling/wearing window centers on the November 16 Uruguay fixture and its pre-match ceremony instead (see Notes on Unverified Details below).

"El Ocho" is built on the same Adidas X Crazyfast platform as Messi's other late-2023 signature boots, carrying the Aeropacity Speedskin monomesh upper, Aerocage engineered support structure, and Aeroplate lightweight soleplate insert, along with the line's roughly 64% bio-based material composition. As with his other personal pairs, Messi's boot includes his signature "Burrito Tongue" construction, a bespoke tongue modification unique to his own match boots.

The boot uses a white and pale-gold colorway, deliberately restrained compared to some earlier, more heavily gilded Ballon d'Or-themed boots in football history — SoccerBible specifically noted this was "a departure from typical Ballon d'Or boot designs that heavily feature gold coloring." Design elements reported across sources include:

• Eight embroidered gold balls along the medial (inner) side of the boot, one for each of Messi's eight Ballon d'Or wins.
• The years of each individual Ballon d'Or victory engraved into the soleplate.
• A golden goat's head graphic positioned just below the laces, referencing Messi's "G.O.A.T." (Greatest Of All Time) status.
• The phrase "El Mejor Del Mundo" ("The Best in the World") embossed on the exterior.
• The number 10, an Argentine flag motif, and the names and birthdates of Messi's children on the heel, continuing the personalization pattern seen across his boot history.

Adidas's messaging around "El Ocho" leaned into the idea, as paraphrased by SoccerBible, that "everything he touches seems to turn to gold" — casting gold as a recurring visual motif across Messi's most celebratory signature boots (echoing the "Leyenda" World Cup boots from a year earlier). The accompanying eight gold rings — one per Ballon d'Or — extended the tribute beyond footwear into a piece of wearable memorabilia, with a philanthropic component attached to the release. Soccer Cleats 101 described the release as honoring Messi's status as "the greatest of all time," directly tying the design to his record eighth win of the award, an achievement that placed him two clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's five Ballon d'Or titles and cemented his standing as the most decorated individual player in the award's history.

The central occasion tied to this boot is the 2023 Ballon d'Or ceremony itself, held in Paris on October 30, 2023, at which Messi won the award for a record eighth time, edging out Manchester City's Erling Haaland, who had just completed a treble-winning season, in a decision that proved contentious in parts of the football media given Messi's comparatively quieter individual statistical season split between PSG and Inter Miami — but one Adidas and much of the football world framed as recognition of his World Cup-winning 2022–23 campaign. On the pitch, the most documented moment connected to the boot's public unveiling is Argentina's pre-match tribute to Messi ahead of the November 16, 2023 World Cup qualifier against Uruguay in Buenos Aires — a ceremony celebrating his eighth Ballon d'Or that preceded a surprising 0-2 defeat, Argentina's first loss since becoming world champions.

"El Ocho" is the tribute piece of the Crazyfast era — a white-and-pale-gold X Crazyfast made to mark Messi's record eighth Ballon d'Or in October 2023, with eight embroidered gold balls, the winning years engraved in the soleplate, and a golden goat's head under the laces. Unlike the other 2023 Messi colorways it was essentially never sold: adidas produced it for Messi himself, with at most a single extra pair via giveaway, which makes it a museum piece rather than a market item. There is effectively no legitimate way to own one, so its interest for collectors is documentary — the boot that closed out the Ballon d'Or chapter of his career — while the Crazyfast platform it sits on was well liked by players.