“Tonight, I’m enjoying myself. It’s a pleasure that will never leave me, and I hope to be able to enjoy it for many years to come,” Messi said through a translator. “Becoming world champion was the title we were missing. I’d like to thank everyone who helped make Argentina the world champion team,” he added.

“This title and this trophy, I share with you and all our Argentina comrades,” the star striker said.

Messi is the only footballer in the world to have won more than five Ballon d’Or awards. Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo has won it five times, while Frenchman Michel Platini and Dutch Johan Cruff and Marco van Basten have won the coveted title three times each.

 

Messi, who plays for American football club Inter Miami, had last won the award in 2021.

In 2022, the Argentinian had missed out on being shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or. However, he redeemed himself by winning Argentina their first World Cup in 36 years in Qatar last year.

 

Messi scored seven goals for Argentina and assisted in three during the showpiece, scoring twice in a tumultuous final against France.

 

Norway’s Haaland and France’s Mbappe were among the top three players in the running for the award. Haaland was earlier named UEFA Player of the Year.