Lionel Messi repeats as Best FIFA Men’s Player award winner

Doug McIntyre

Soccer Journalist

After winning his first World Cup with Argentina in late 2022, it came as no shock when, back in November, Lionel Messi was named the Ballon d’Or recipient as soccer’s top men’s player for a record eighth time.

On Monday in London, the player most consider the greatest of all time was again crowned the greatest right now, winning the award for Best FIFA Men’s Player between Dec. 19 2022 and Aug. 20 2023 — a period that did not include his World Cup triumph — following a vote by national team captains, coaches, media members and fans from across the globe.

So this one was a little more surprising. Messi, 36, again beat out Norway’s Erling Haaland, just like he did for the Ballon d’Or. But Haaland’s 2023 included a new goal-scoring record in England’s Premier League, the world’s most competitive domestic circuit, plus the Champions League, FA Cup and Prem titles in his first season with Manchester City. Messi and Haaland finished even in the voting, with the former winning the tie-breaker: most first-place selections from the captains.

France’s Kylian Mbappé finished third. Mbappé, who spent two years as Messi’s teammate at Paris Saint-Germain (and who was on the losing side as Les Bleus fell to Argentina in the final at Qatar 2022), led PSG to another French title and was Ligue 1’s leading scorer for the fifth year running.

It’s Messi’s third Best FIFA Men’s Player win and his second in a row. The Inter Miami forward also took home the honor last year and in 2019. Messi led Ligue 1 in assists in 2022-23 and won the title for the second season running. But what he did after leaving the City of Lights was arguably more impressive.

After announcing his intention to move to Miami just six months after his legacy-cementing moment, Messi arrived in Miami in July and hit the ground running. He came off the bench to score a spectacular free-kick winner in his debut, a Leagues Cup win over Mexican club Cruz Azul. It was his first of 10 goals, many of them spectacular, in just seven games in the Leagues Cup — a 47-team tournament featuring all 47 clubs from MLS and Liga MX that Miami would go on to win.

Days after leading Miami to its first trophy, Messi’s two second-half assists in the U.S. Open Cup semis overturned a 2-0 deficit against FC Cincinnati. The Herons won the penalty shootout to advance to their second final of 2023, with Messi (of course) converting his spot kick.

At the international level, Messi scored five goals in his first three games for the Albiceleste after the World Cup win — the only matches that fell within the consideration period for the Best FIFA Men’s Player. Argentina won all three.

U.S. star Christian Pulisic was among the national team captains who voted for Messi, a pick that proved to be decisive:

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.

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