Despite being at the end of his astounding career, Lionel Messi continues to pick up individual awards. Having taken home his eight Ballon d’Or in October, the 36-year-old has now added to that after being crowned with The Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award for 2023.
As was the case with the Ballon d’Or, Messi beat out Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe to win. It is the third time that he has taken home the award, having previously done so in 2019 and 2022. It means that he holds the record for the player with the most wins of the award since its introduction.
Lionel Messi has now won The Best FIFA Men's Player of the Year more times than any other footballer in the award's history.
◉ 2019
◉ 2022
◉ 2023#TheBest pic.twitter.com/uqrAG3uuWS— Squawka (@Squawka) January 15, 2024
In truth, 2023 was not an overly great year for Messi. He helped Paris Saint-Germain win Ligue 1 at the end of last season, before guiding Inter Miami to Leagues Cup glory during the summer, not long after he had joined the MLS side.
Still, it wad clearly enough for the Barcelona icon to take home the award, although as it turned out, he was not present at the ceremony.
