The captain of the Argentine men's football team, Lionel Messi, was announced as the winner of the 2023 FIFA best award by its organisers.
The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain player was voted the winner of the award following his impressive performance at the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosted in Qatar. Lionel Messi led his team to win the most lucrative competition for the first time since 1986 when Diego Maradona led them to win the tournament. He has also been impressive for Inter Miami since his arrival at the MLS, leading them to their first-ever trophy in the history of the club.
Messi was coming off the back of winning the Ballon d'Or for a record eighth time, a feat that has never been achieved by any person in the world. He is also the first player to win the award for the eighth time.
He beat Manchester City's forward player, Erling Haaland and Paris Saint Germain's midfielder, Kylian Mbappe to win the award.
The award will be presented to the individual with the most points. The voting procedure is supervised by independent observers, results will be published in full on FIFA's website following the awards ceremony.
