After winning Monday night’s Best Men’s Player award, Lionel Messi broke two records.
The award was given to Messi at a lavish ceremony in London after he defeated Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe to win it.
FIFA has determined that Haaland and the Argentine finished tied on points, thus it was not a convincing win for the latter.
Points were tallied based on votes cast by journalists, fans, and managers of the national teams.
However, Messi followed up his early-season Ballon d’Or victory by winning the award because he garnered more votes from the captains of the national teams.
Messi made another history by becoming the first player from outside of Europe to get the honor.
He currently plays for Inter Miami of the Major League Soccer, where he scored 11 goals in 14 games to help the team win the Leagues Cup last year.
Messi won the World Cup with Argentina, but it was not relevant to the Best because it was outside the window. Messi also won trophies with PSG and Inter.
Because it was his 17th consecutive participation in the team, he broke still another record when he was picked in the World XI.
But Messi was not present to accept his award in person.
This is because, in front of the upcoming Major League Soccer season, the Barcelona icon is presently taking part in Inter’s preseason.
He has returned to training and is getting ready for a busy schedule with his longtime buddy and coworker Luis Suarez.
Seven friendlies await Gerardo Martino’s team, starting with an encounter with El Salvador’s national team and ending with a matchup with Messi’s childhood team, Newell’s Old Boys.
The matchup between Cristiano Ronaldo’s “Al Nassr” in Riyadh is another must-see event; it may be the “Last Dance” between the two titans.