'The little boy from Rosario' - Social media jubilant after Lionel Messi bags second The Best FIFA award

By Ayush Gupta | First Published Feb 28, 2023, 9:47 AM IST

The Best FIFA Award: Lionel Messi has won the honour for the second time following a tremendous 2022, making an impact for PSG and Argentina, which included the FIFA World Cup win in Qatar, as social media has entered into a jubilant mood.

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has been on a different level since last year. He has settled down with French champion Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). He has been scoring goals with the side regularly, allowing it to win the Ligue 1 championship. He continues his free-flowing form with Argentina, leading the side to its third FIFA World Cup title victory.

Lionel Messi's trophy cabinet is insane 🐐 pic.twitter.com/H8lgHrJ7eJ

— GOAL (@goal)

Consequently, it was a no-brainer that Messi was nominated for The Best FIFA award this term. While the award ceremony took place in Paris on Monday, the Argentine emerged as the winner in the men's category, winning the laurel for only the second time in his career, surpassing the other two finalists, Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and France) and Kylian Mbappe (PSG and France).

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The little boy from Rosario, Argentina 🇦🇷 | pic.twitter.com/kNtFjwyp2K

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup)

After receiving the award, Messi recorded, "Wow, it's amazing. It's been a tremendous year, and it's an honour to be here tonight and win this award. Without my teammates, I wouldn't be here. I achieved the dream I had been hoping for so long. Very few people can achieve that, and I have been lucky to do so."

Leo Messi wins his 𝟕𝟕𝐭𝐡 individual award 😱 pic.twitter.com/7R27gtWuov

— B/R Football (@brfootball)

As a result, social media was in a jubilant mood, hailing Messi as the greatest of all time and dubbing him the ultimate GOAT. FIFA wrote on its Twitter post, "The little boy from Rosario, Argentina". It is Messi's third FIFA award, winning the FIFA Player of the Year when he was 22.

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🐐Different years,different decades Lionel Messi is still winning awards.

🏅Lionel Messi at 22yrs old,won his 1st FIFA POTY Award.

🏅Aged 35yrs,Lionel Messi wins the FIFA POTY for a record 7th time.

🏅This is his 77th individual award.|| pic.twitter.com/iwSFPcgb68

— FIFA World Cup Stats (@alimo_philip)

Meanwhile, below is the list of all award winners during The Best FIFA:
The Best FIFA Men's Player - Lionel Messi
The Best FIFA Women's Player - Alexia Putellas
The Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper - Emiliano Martinez
The Best Women's Goalkeeper - Mary Earps
The Best FIFA Men's Coach - Lionel Scaloni
The Best FIFA Women's Coach - Sarina Wiegman
The FIFA Puskas Award - Marcin Oleksy vs Stal Rzeszow
FIFA FIFPRO 2022 Women's World XI - Christiane Endler, Lucy Bronze, Mapi Leon, Leah Williamson, Wendie Renard, Alexia Putellas, Keira Walsh, Lena Oberdorf, Alex Morgan, Sam Kerr, Beth Mead.
FIFA FIFPRO 2022 Men's World XI - Thibaut Courtois, Achraf Hakimi, Joao Cancelo, Virgil van Dijk, Kevin De Bruyne, Luka Modric, Casemiro, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema, Erling Haaland.
FIFA Fan Award - Argentina fans
FIFA Fair Play Award - Luka Lochoshvili