Fernando Romero Nuñez 
Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi won a record-breaking third The Best FIFA Men’s Player award on Monday. The news came as a surprise as Inter Miami forward, who was competing against Manchester City and Norway striker Erling Haaland and his former teammate at PSG (and World Cup final rival) Kylian Mbappé, wasn’t favored to win.
National team captains and head coaches, as well as media members and fans voted for Messi as the best player of 2023. The Argentine wasn’t expected to win the award, as the prize only considered achievement after the 2022 World Cup had ended, meaning the Albiceleste captain had only the Ligue 1 title he had won with PSG and the League Cup victory with Inter Miami to show for.
The voting came to the wire, with Messi and Haaland tied at 48 scoring points each. However, the Argentine star took it thanks to having a higher number of first-choice votes from national team captains. Mbappé was third with 35 scoring points.
Messi had already won the award in 2019 and 2022, making him the all-time record winner with three, breaking the three-way tie between himself, Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (winner in 2016 and 2017), and Poland’s Robert Lewandowski (2020 and 2021). He was also part of the FIFA/FIFPRO World XI for a record 17th time.
Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí won the Best FIFA Women’s Player, turning the final results into a repeat of the 2023 Ballon d’Or awards.
Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola was named the Best FIFA Men’s Coach, while England’s Sarina Wiegman won the Women’s Coach award. Brazil’s Ederson and England’s Mary Earps won the Best FIFA Men’s and Women’s Goalkeeper respectively.
The Brazilian national team won the FIFA Fair Play award thanks to their efforts to fight racism in football.
Messi wasn’t the sole Argentine awarded, as Colón de Santa Fe fan Hugo Íñiguez won FIFA Fan Award after a video of him bottle feeding his baby son in the stands went viral. Brazilian midfielder Guilherme Madruga also won the FIFA Puskás Award for best goal of 2023.
