Lionel Messi Named The Best FIFA Men’s Player for Third Time

Lionel Messi is the best… again.

The 36-year-old Argentine soccer superstar has won his third FIFA The Best men’s award, beating Manchester City‘s Erling Haaland and Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé for the honor.

Lionel Messi The timeline for the award was between December 19, 2022 — the day after Messi led Argentina to win the World Cup in Qatar — and August 20, 2023. 

Messi won the award mostly for his work at PSG and Inter Miami, having helped the French giants to another Ligue 1 title before moving to MLS in July and inspiring Interm Miami to their first-ever trophy, the Leagues Cup.

On the international level, Messi helped Argentina top CONMEBOL‘s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification table after six games.

Messi was not in attendance in London to collect the award.

The three nominees for the award were compiled, FIFA said, in collaboration with its “football stakeholders,” with short lists determined by two separate panels of former players and coaches. The winner of the award was then voted between journalists, fans, national team captains and managers.

The award is Messi’s third FIFA The Best title — his first coming in 2019 and second coming last year. He’s the only player to win the award three times.

He has also won a record eight Ballon d’Or awards.

Messi had a whirlwind 2023. In the first half, he won the French top flight for a second time but was booed by fans in his final games following a second successive round-of-16 exit from the Champions League.

The height of Messi’s season came after he joined Miami in July, when he swiftly inspired the franchise to win the Leagues Cup with a series of individual heroics, although the club missed out on the MLS Playoffs.

Here’s the full list of men’s awards:

The Best FIFA Men’s Player: Lionel Messi
Puskás Award: Guilherme Madruga (Botafogo-SP)
FIFA Fair Play AwardBrazil senior men’s players
FIFA Fan Award: Hugo Miguel Iñiguez
Men’s Coach of the Year: Pep Guardiola
Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year: Éderson (Man City) 

Men’s World XI:
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
Defence: John Stones (Man City), Kyle Walker (Man City), Rúben Dias (Man City)
Midfield: Bernardo Silva (Man City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
Forwards: Erling Haaland (Man City), Kylian Mbappé (PSG), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid)

Erik Lamela Wins FIFA’s Puskas Award

Erik Lamela is celebrating his award-winning rabona

The 29-year-old Argentine professional footballer, who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for La Liga club Sevilla and the Argentina national team, has won this year’s Puskas Award.

Erik Lamela

Lamela earned the award for his “rabona” for Tottenham Hotspur against Arsenal.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski equaled Cristiano Ronaldo‘s FIFA The Best record when he won the award for a second time on Monday.

The Bayern Munich forward retained his FIFA The Best award following an incredible campaign in which he scored a Bundesliga record 41 goals, fighting off competition from Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel claimed the Manager of the Year award following success in the Champions League in 2021.

Chelsea and Senegal‘s Edouard Mendy won the Goalkeeper of the Year award.

Denmark team and staff won the Fair Play award following their reaction to Christian Eriksen‘s cardiac arrest at Euro 2020. Denmark and Finland fans also received the Best Fan award for their spontaneous unified chanting in support of Eriksen after he was taken off the pitch.

The award was first handed out in its present guise in 2016, after FIFA ended their five-year partnership with the Ballon d’Or. Ronaldo, who was given a special award for breaking the international men’s goal scoring record in 2021, won back-to-back awards in the first two years.

Meanwhile, Messi and part-Brazilian player Jorginho were named to the FIFA FIFPro Men’s World XI team.

FIFA FIFPro Men’s World XI
Gianluigi Donnarumma – Paris Saint-Germain, Italy
David Alaba – Real Madrid, Austria
Ruben Dias – Manchester City, Portugal
Leonardo Bonucci – Juventus, Italy
Jorginho – Chelsea, Italy
N’Golo Kante – Chelsea, France
Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City, Belgium
Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United, Portugal
Erling Haaland – Borussia Dortmund, Norway
Robert Lewandowski – Bayern Munich, Poland
Lionel Messi – Paris Saint-Germain, Argentina

Barcelona midfielder Alexia Putellas won the women’s award.

Messi Nominated for FIFA Puskas Award for the Most Beautiful Goal of the Year

Could the fourth time be the charm for Lionel Messi?

The 28-year-old Argentine soccer superstar is among the 10 nominees for FIFA‘s Puskas Award, which celebrates the “most beautiful” goal of the year.

Lionel Messi

The award is named after legendary Real Madrid and Hungary striker Ferenc Puskas and the period for this year’s prize is from September 27, 2014 to September 23, 2015.

Messi, who was previously nominated for the prize in 2010, 2011 and 2012, was shortlisted for the Puskas Award for beating four defenders before scoring Barcelona‘s first goal against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final.

Here’s a look at this year’s Puskas Award nominees:

2015 Puskas Award nominations
David Ball – Fleetwood v Preston, League One
Gonzalo Castro – Real Sociedad v Deportivo, La Liga
Alessandro Florenzi – Roma v Barcelona, Champions League
Wendell Lira – Goianesia v Atletico, Brazil Football League
Carli Lloyd – USA v Japan, Women’s World Cup
Lionel Messi – Barcelona v Athletic Bilbao, Copa del Rey
Philippe Mexes – AC Milan v Inter Milan, friendly
Marcel Ndjeng – SC Paderborn v Bolton, friendly
Esteban Ramirez – Herediano v Deportivo Saprissa, Costa Rica
Carlos Tevez – Juventus v Parma Calcio, Serie A

The award was won by Colombia’s James Rodriguez last year for his goal against Uruguay in the World Cup.