At a glittering ceremony in Paris on Monday, Lionel Messi, who has had an incredible career, won his eighth Ballon d'Or. Aitana Bonmati, the star of Spain's World Cup, won the women's prize.
For Messi, the trophy is the ultimate tribute to his inspirational performances during the World Cup in Qatar the previous year, where he led Argentina to victory with seven goals and was voted the best player in the competition.
It was the pinnacle of his incredible career. It enabled him to defeat fierce opposition, especially from Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, to accept the trophy on the Chatelet Theatre stage in Paris.
Following his June departure from Paris Saint-Germain and his subsequent Major League Soccer transfer to Inter Miami, it was a return to the French capital.
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David Beckham, the co-owner of Inter Miami, presented Messi with his award on stage. "This is a gift to the whole Argentina team for what we achieved," Messi said.
Messi gave the trophy as a tribute to the late Diego Maradona, an Argentine icon who would have turned 63 on Monday.
"Happy Diego's birthday. This is also for you," he remarked.
A recent modification that bases the award on a player's performance over the previous season rather than the calendar year helps Messi.
Even though he won the Ligue 1 championship, he still prevailed despite having a lackluster final season at PSG.
Maaland, Mbappe simply lose out
With 41 goals to his credit, Mbappe was the team's standout player. He also led the World Cup in scoring with eight goals, including a hat-trick in the championship match that France lost to Argentina on penalties.
Although he finished third, he was short of winning the Ballon d'Or. Haaland, a striker from Norway, came in second place with 52 goals in 53 games for Manchester City, the team that won the FA Cup, the English Premier League, and the Champions League.
Messi, 36, took home his first Ballon d'Or trophy in 2009. Now that he has eight, he is three ahead of the following most decorated player in the award's history, Cristiano Ronaldo, his former rival.
One journalist from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA ranking casts a vote to determine who gets to keep Messi in the running for the prize.
