Messi became the first active Major League Soccer player to win the Ballon d’Or at a ceremony in Paris on Monday, beating Manchester City forward Erling Haaland (second) and Paris Saints. The Ballon d’Or is a trophy awarded annually to the best player in the world. Germany forward Kylian Mbappe (third). He has won the world record award eight times, three more than the next player on the list (Cristiano Ronaldo; five times).
The past year has been one to remember for the Argentinian icon, who captained Argentina to its first World Cup win since 1986, beating France on penalties. After his breakthrough at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Messi won the World Cup Golden Ball (Best Player) and Silver Boot (Second Scorer) awards.
At club level, Messi won the 2022-23 Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain. He was also named Ligue 1’s best foreign player of the season with 16 goals and 16 assists.
This was all before Messi officially joined Inter Miami in mid-July and made an immediate impact, helping the Herons lift the 2023 League Cup (the club’s first trophy) and advance to the 2023 US Open final . Messi played a total of 14 times in the first half of the season, scoring 11 goals and assisting 8 times.
The 2024 MLS season is expected to be an exciting one for Messi, who will join forces with former Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi ·Jordi Alba heads to Miami together. Their competition will begin in February when the club will compete in the CONCACAF Champions League for the first time.