London, Europe Brief News – Lionel Messi was awarded The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award after leading Argentina to victory at the 2022 World Cup.
Messi, 35, scored seven goals in Qatar as Argentina won their third World Cup.
An emotional Messi admitted that the personal accolade completed what had been a ‘tremendous’ year of success for him and his club and country colleagues.
While holding his award, Messi stated: ‘Wow, it’s amazing. It’s been a tremendous year and it’s an honour for me to be here tonight and win this award.
The Albiceleste captain also picked up the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s best player, becoming the first player in history to receive the prize twice, having won it in Brazil in 2014.
Lionel Messi is yet to win a team trophy with Paris Saint-Germain this campaign but has chipped in with a mammoth 33 goal contributions in 28 matches, as Christophe Galtier’s side sit eight points clear at the Ligue 1 summit.
Monday’s award is the second time Messi has won FIFA’s The Best men’s player since its rebranding in 2016, adding to his FIFA World Player of the Year award received back in 2009.
His second win pulls him level with Cristiano Ronaldo (2016, 2017) and Robert Lewandowski (2020, 2021), who have shared all but one of the prizes, with only the 2018 edition awarded to a different player, Luka Modric.
