Lionel Messi beats Erling Haaland to Best FIFA men's award - ESPN

LONDON — Lionel Messi won his third FIFA The Best men's award on Monday, beating Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé to the prize.

The timeline for the award was between Dec. 19, 2022 — the day after Messi led Argentina to win the World Cup in Qatar — and Aug. 20, 2023.

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Messi won the award mostly for his work at PSG and Inter Miami, having helped the French giants to another Ligue 1 title before moving to MLS in July and inspiring Miami to their first-ever trophy, the Leagues Cup.

At the international level, Messi helped Argentina to top CONMEBOL's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification table after six games.

Messi was not in attendance in London to collect the award.

The three nominees for the award were compiled, FIFA said, in collaboration with its «football stakeholders,» with short lists determined by two separate panels of former players and coaches. The winner of the award was then voted between journalists, fans, national team captains and managers.

The award is Messi's third FIFA The Best title — his first coming in 2019 and second coming last year. He has also won a record eight Ballon d'Or awards.

Messi had a whirlwind 2023. In the first half, he won the French top flight for a second time but was booed by fans in his final games following a second successive round-of-16 exit from the Champions League.

The height of Messi's season came after he joined Miami in July, when he swiftly inspired the franchise to win the Leagues Cup with a series of individual heroics, although the club missed out on the MLS Playoffs.

Haaland joined City from Borussia Dortmund in June 2022 and helped the club to a historic treble in his debut