Messi named best footballer for 2023

(Patria) - The awards for the best in football for the past year, 2023, were presented in London tonight. Lionel Messi was named the best player, marking his third such award.

The International Football Association (FIFA) had previously announced that the finalists for this year's best player in the world were Norway's Erling Haaland, France's Kylian Mbappe, and Argentina's Lionel Messi.

After the World Cup final in Qatar at the end of last year, in which Messi's Argentina defeated Mbappe's France, Messi and Mbappe won the French league title with Paris SG, and this summer Messi decided to continue his career at Inter Miami.

Pep Guardiola was named the best coach, and deservedly so, as he won the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup with Manchester City, and as many as six players from the Citizens found their place in the best 11.

"Thank you to my club. You don't know how wonderful it is to work with them every day. Thank you to my father who is here at 92 years old. Thank you to my wife too. Enjoy the ceremony and thank you all again very much," said Guardiola, who won the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League with City.

We remind you that the previous winners of FIFA's awards for the best player in the world were Lothar Matthäus (1991), Marco van Basten (1992), Roberto Baggio (1993), Romario (1994), George Weah (1995), Ronaldo (1996, 1997, and 2002), Zinedine Zidane (1998, 2000, and 2003), Rivaldo (1999), Luis Figo (2001), Ronaldinho (2004 and 2005), Fabio Cannavaro (2006), Kaka (2007), Cristiano Ronaldo (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017), Lionel Messi (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023), Luka Modrić (2018), and Robert Lewandowski (2020 and 2021).