This is the only award Lionel Messi could never win in his career

Last week Lionel Messi was once again voted most outstanding player in the world. His colleagues, as well as coaches, journalists and fans from all continents, outvoted him over Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé for The Best awards that FIFA has been organizing since 2016. It was the third time he won this trophy, after 2019 and 2022.

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This is in addition to other individual recognitions Leo has received. The most important one is the Ballon d'Or that France Football magazine delivers since the 50's. The Argentine forward has won it 8 times, more than any other player in history. In addition, he has been elected MVP in two World Cups (Brazil 2014 and Qatar 2022) and in two Copa America. And he holds the record for assists in the history of soccer, as well as goals, games and titles at Barcelona.

However, there is one award that has escaped him several times: the Puskas. It is an award given by FIFA to the best goal of each year, and is named after the striker Ferenc Puskás, who shone with Real Madrid and with the Hungarian and Spanish national teams between 1943 and 1966.

Lionel Messi was selected as a finalist in the Puskas awards seven times during his professional career. The first of these was in 2010, for a goal against Valencia in which he dribbled past several defenders. Three other times he scored with Barcelona goals that reached that instance (2011 vs Arsenal, 2015 vs Athletic Bilbao and 2019 vs Real Betis), to which are added three goals with the Argentina National Team (2012 vs Brazil, 2016 vs USA and 2018 against Nigeria). But on all those occasions Leo lost and could not keep the trophy.

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He has other priorities

Although he enjoys and appreciates the individual recognitions he receives, Lionel Messi always assures that his priority is the collective successes. And in that aspect he is number 1: no one has won as many titles as he has in the history of soccer. Among them are four Champions Leagues and a World Cup.