The opportunity to add yet another important award to his collection is presented to Messi after he has successfully lifted the eighth Golden Ball.

Lionel Messi was one of three young players who were selected by FIFA to be among the top three nominees for the Best Player of the Year award. The other two nominees were Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland. The announcement was made on the evening of December 14.

The statement made by FIFA sparked a heated discussion on various social media platforms due to the fact that The Best award takes into consideration a player’s performance between the dates of December 19, 2022 and August 20, 2023. As a result, Messi’s performance at the World Cup in 2022 will not be taken into consideration. 

Messi completed this time period with a total of 26 goals and 12 assists. He won the North-Central American Confederation Cup with Inter Miami and the Ligue 1 championship with Paris Saint-Germain. In terms of titles, he won both of these championships. During these two competitions, Messi was awarded the individual honor of Ligue 1 Assist King as well as the award for Best Player in the American League League Cup.

The question that was posed by a fan was, “What did Messi do during this time to get into the top three?” The second guy made a snide remark, stating, “Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne, and Bernardo Silva probably play volleyball.” An further supporter noted that it is not incorrect to refer to Messi as FIFA’s darling.

Previously, De Bruyne, Silva, and Gundogan were among the twelve names that were considered for the team. These three superstars were instrumental in Man City’s unprecedented treble victory from the previous season, which they helped to achieve. However, none of them were able to secure a spot in the top three nominees for The Best.

It is expected that the Best award would be decided based on the votes of four different groups: coaches, national team captains, journalists from federations, and votes from fans. Every group of votes will carry the same amount of weight. 

Between the dates of September 14, 2023 and October 6, 2023, voting will begin. Since Messi has already been awarded three times, he will become the player who has won The Best the most times in the history of the award if he is successful in winning it.

In the present moment, the Argentine superstar is being honored with this prestigious individual accolade on two separate occasions, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski. Additionally, as a result of his achievement at the World Cup in 2022, Messi is the recipient of the prize for “The Best athlete.”