An image of Inter Miami's Lionel Messi is displayed after he was named best men's player of 2023 during the awards ceremony by former footballer Kristine Lilly and FIFA council member Sonia Fulford.
Credit: Reuters Photo
London: Argentine Lionel Messi retained the FIFA player of the year award on Monday, beating Manchester City's treble-winning Norwegian striker Erling Haaland and France's Paris St Germain forward Kylian Mbappe to the award.
Messi, who also secured the award in 2022 after guiding Argentina to World Cup victory, clinched the Ligue 1 title with PSG alongside Mbappe following that success, before moving to Major League Soccer team Inter Miami.
The 36-year-old, voted the best player by national teams, coaches, captains, journalists and fans, helped Inter Miami win the 2023 Leagues Cup -- a competition between MLS and Mexico's Liga MX sides -- scoring 10 goals.
Messi was not present to collect the trophy.
The award period for the men's prize ran from Dec. 19, 2022 to Aug. 20, 2023, and started the day after the World Cup final in Qatar.