On Monday night (January 15), Inter Miami ace Lionel Messi was named The Best FIFA Men’s Player for 2023. The Argentinian has now become the first player in history to win The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award thrice, with him also taking home the prestigious accolade in 2019 and 2022.

Lionel Messi Narrowly Beat Manchester City Ace Erling Haaland

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner snatched his eighth FIFA Player of the Year (POTY) by the narrowest of margins on Monday. Recognizing the most exceptional performers in soccer between December 19, 2022, and August 20, 2023, national team coaches, captains, expert journalists, and supporters cast their votes.

Messi received 476 points from coaches, 677 points from international captains, 315 points from media, and a whopping 613,293 fan points. Factoring it all, Messi’s total stood at 48 Scoring points. Haaland, meanwhile, got 541 points from coaches, 557 points from captains of international teams, 729 points from journalists, and 365,893 points from fan votes. His Scoring points total was also 48. The number of first-choice nominations from international captains ultimately broke the deadlock, with most skippers putting the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner ahead of the 2022-23 Treble winner.

Messi is crowned #TheBest!

Click here for more information. ➡️ https://t.co/niVRuFY4lP pic.twitter.com/krIyrtkexL

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) January 15, 2024

Since Messi’s FIFA World Cup heroics did not play a part in this year’s The Best FIFA Men’s Player Awards, his win has come as a surprise to many. During the voting period, Messi won the Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), amassing 16 goals and 16 assists in 32 games throughout the season. He then took his talents to Major League Soccer (MLS) club Inter Miami, scoring 10 goals and providing an assist to propel them to Leagues Cup glory.

The Norwegian sharpshooter, on the other hand, won the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, and FA Cup with Manchester City in the 2022-23 season, finishing as the top scorer in both the Premier League and the Champions League. The 23-year-old scored 36 goals in 35 English top-flight games and netted 12 times in 11 matches in the European competition.

Messi Makes MLS History With The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award Win

Messi’s victory on Monday saw him create history in MLS, with him becoming the first-ever player to win the FIFA POTY while playing in the league. The former Barcelona superstar was not there to receive the award in London, as he stayed back in Miami to prepare for the upcoming MLS season. But he will celebrate the win with his fans in America when Vice City play the El Salvador national team on Friday (January 18).

Inter Miami will begin their MLS campaign on February 21 against Real Salt Lake but are scheduled to play quite a few friendlies in the coming month. The most anticipated of them all is of course the clash with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr on February 1.