SUMMARY
- Lionel Messi, won the Best Award of FIFA on January 15.
- Many expected the award to go to Erling Haaland, who contributed more compared to Messi in the same period.
Lionel Messi started this year with another accolade for his trophy cabinet. On January 15, the Argentine captain won the Best Award from FIFA after an open voting of national captains, journalists, and managers. The accolade drew widespread criticism from experts and fans, as many expected Erling Haaland to win the award over the Inter Miami superstar.
The general argument was that Lionel Messi didn’t do enough during the period for which the award was presented to him. PSG won the Ligue 1 title but didn’t impress in the UCL. On the other end, Erling Haaland won the treble with Manchester City. After the accolade, certain voters came out to clear the air regarding their decision on the subject.
Roberto Martínez admits he misunderstood the period in question for the award
Roberto Martínez, the head coach of the Portugal national team, was among the big names that spoke on the issue. The Spanish manager talked to the Portuguese outlet A Bola. He revealed that he misunderstood the period for which the award was being presented at the recent ceremony.
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez also voted Messi for the FIFA Best award.😭 pic.twitter.com/piCT8okHdY
— FCB Albiceleste (@FCBAlbiceleste) January 17, 2024
The 2024 edition was for the period from December 19, 2022, to 20 August 2023. The period started a day after Lionel Messi won the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The former Belgium manager voted for Marcelo Brozovic, Bernardo Silva, and Messi as his top three choices, with the Argentine taking the first spot.
Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland finished with the same points after voting
The vote from Martinez was crucial, as it helped Messi draw level with Haaland after the voting. As a tiebreaker, the votes from the captains of all the national teams were selected to decide the winner. Messi came out on top in the tiebreaker to win his 3rd FIFA Best award.
Messi now leads the all-time list with the most FIFA Best awards in the male category. This accolade might be the last one that he wins in European soccer. The Argentine moved to Inter Miami in the summer of 2023 which might put him out of contention. To be back in contention for these individual awards, Messi has to carry his national team to another Copa América title in the USA in the summer of 2024.
🐐 Seven days ’til a new MLS season for Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.
🔜 #MLSisBack on Feb. 21.#Messi𓃵|#GOAT𓃵|#InterMiamiCF pic.twitter.com/wrRAWUn8gl
— FIFA World Cup Stats (@alimo_philip) February 14, 2024
Lionel Messi is currently preparing for his second season with Inter Miami. The Argentine is playing pre-session friendlies with the MLS side around the world. The Miami-based side traveled to Asia recently. They faced teams from Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and Japan as part of their pre-season. The new season of MLS starts from February 21 with Inter Miami taking on Real Salt Lake in their first match.