The award ceremony took place on Monday at the Chatelet Theater in Paris. Messi received the prize from the hands of former England captain David Beckham, who is a co-owner of the Inter Miami club. In 2022, former Real Madrid footballer Karim Benzema received the award, RIA Novosti reports.

Messi had previously received the "Golden ball" in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021. The 36-year-old Argentine holds the record for the number of awards. His closest pursuer is Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (five Golden Balls). Last season, Messi won the World Cup in Qatar with the Argentine national team and was recognized as the best player of the tournament. He also became the French champion with PSG.

The second place in the voting was taken by the Norwegian striker of Manchester City Erling Holland, the third was Frenchman Kylian Mbappe from PSG, and the fourth was another Manchester City player, Belgian Kevin De Bruyne.

Among women, the winner of the Golden Ball was a football player of Barcelona and the Spanish national team, Aitana Bonmati. The award was presented to her by the first racket of the world, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic. Barcelona women's team also received the award for the best team of the season. Manchester City became the best men's club.

The Golden Ball was established by France Football in 1956 as a prize for the best footballer of the year in Europe (based on the opinions of a group of sports journalists). In 2010, FIFA and France Football announced the merger of the Golden Ball and FIFA Player of the Year awards (determined on the basis of voting by captains and coaches of national teams). In September 2016, France Football announced the termination of its partnership with FIFA and returned to the original system for determining the best player of the year.