Lionel Messi has been chosen as TIME Athlete of the Year 2023. He is the first footballer to receive this honour. Messi has received this award by leaving behind PSC's Kylian Mbappe and Manchester City's Erling Haaland as well as tennis' Novak Djokovic and Major League Baseball star Aaron Judge.
| Player | Country | How Often | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 8 | 2009,2010,2011,2012,2015,2019,2021,2023 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 5 | 2008,2013,2014,2016,2017 |
| Michel Platini | France | 3 | 1983,1984,1985 |
| Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | 3 | 1971,1973,1974 |
| Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | 3 | 1971,1973,1974 |
Lionel Messi was honored with the Ballon d'Or award last month for his stellar performance in last year's FIFA World Cup. He is the only player to have won the Ballon d'Or eight times. Earlier also won Ballon d'Or awards in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021.
Lionel Messi received the World Cup Golden Ball award for the second time in the World Cup played in Qatar last year. However, the Golden Boot went to France's Kylian Mbappe. Who scored 8 goals in the tournament. Whereas Messi had scored 7 goals in this World Cup. Messi scored 2 goals in the final. He has played 26 matches so far in the World Cup, in which he has been successful in scoring 16 goals. Of these, 12 were field goals and 4 were from penalties.
In the final of the Football World Cup played in Qatar on December 18 last year, the Messi-led Argentina team defeated France 4-2 in the penalty shootout. Before this, both the teams were tied at 2-2 goals till the scheduled time. After this the match went till half time. Even in half time both the teams scored 1-1 goals. In this way the match remained tied at 3-3. After which the match was decided in penalty shootout.
Time magazine has been giving the Athlete of the Year award since 2019. However, the Person of the Year award for 1927 goes to Time magazine. The Athlete of the Year award is given to the athlete who performs better in sports throughout the year.
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