Unexpectedly, Lionel Messi, striker of the Argentine national team and "Inter Miami" club, was named the best player of the year. The 35-year-old player beat Erling Holland ("Manchester City"/Norway) and Kylian Mbappe ("PSG"/France) in the fight for the award.

Messi won this award for the fourth time in his career, having previously received this award in 2022, 2019 and 2009.

Messi won the French championship with PSG last year and won the League Cup with Inter Miami. In October, the 36-year-old Argentine became an 8-time winner of the "Golden Ball" award. According to reports, Lionel Messi was not at the award ceremony.

The trophy was presented to host Terry Henry. Also, some media reports that Messi and Holland are the same - 48 votes each. According to the regulations, the number of votes of the captains of the national team decides everything, and Leo got more votes than them."