Messi Wins The Best FIFA Men’s Player Of The Year (See Full Winners List)

Inter Miami and Argentina forward Lionel Messi has been named The Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year for 2023.

The 36-year-old fended off competition from Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and former Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe to retain the award he also claimed last year.

In total, Messi has now won the award three times since it was introduced in 2016, moving out on his own above Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski as the player with the outright most The Best FIFA Men’s Player titles.

The voting for the gong was split between fans, players, managers and journalists, with the period under consideration starting the day after the 2022 World Cup final, which saw Messi lift the trophy, and ending on August 20, 2023.

During that time, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner helped PSG to win the Ligue 1 title, before moving to MLS side Inter Miami, where he quickly won the Leagues Cup to add to his trophy haul – the day before the voting period ended.

The voting period also saw Messi score his 700^th  career club goal, 800^th  career goal in total and 100th international goal, as well as registering his 1,000^th  direct club goal involvement.

However, is The Best FIFA Men’s Player award came as some surprise considering he was up against Haaland, who scored 52 goals in 53 games to help Man City win the treble last season.

The Norway international led the charge as Pep Guardiola’s men lifted the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

Mbappe, meanwhile, netted 41 times in 43 games across all competitions in 2022-23, helping PSG to the Ligue 1 title alongside Messi.

ALL THE WINNERS :

FIFA Best Men’s Player-Lionel Messi (Argentina)  

FIFA Best  Women’s Player-Aitana Bonmati (Spain)

FIFA Best Men’s Goalkeeper-Ederson (Manchester City ).

FIFA Best Women’s Goalkeeper- Mary Earps(England).

FIFA Best Women’s Coach- Sarina Wiegman  (England).

FIFA Men’s Coach of the Year- Pep Guardiola (Man City)

FIFA Fair Play Award –Brazil national team

FIFA Puskas Award- Guilherme Madruga (Botafogo)

FIFA Fan Award- Hugo Daniel Iniguez

FIFA Special Award- Marta (Brazil)