Inter Miami CF captain Leo Messi has been nominated for the 2026 Ballon d’Or after a standout year. Messi earns the 17th nomination of his career for the prestigious award after being an instrumental component of both the Club’s success in 2025 lifting the MLS Cup and Argentina reaching the final at the FIFA World Cup 2026™. The Argentine maestro joins a list of 30 elite players as the only active Major League Soccer (MLS) player who will compete for the award set to be announced on Oct. 26 in London, England.
The 39-year-old Rosario, Argentina native has previously been elected as the winner of the trophy awarded to the best player in the world a record eight times, three more than the second player on the list of top winners, collecting the most important individual honor in the game in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023.
This past year was yet again a record-setting and memorable one for the attacking extraordinaire, highlighted by guiding Inter Miami to the 2025 MLS Cup title – the first MLS Cup conquest in Club history – and leading Argentina to the final at the FIFA World Cup 2026™.
Individually, Messi clinched the 2025 MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi with 29 goals and 48 total goal contributions (29 goals, 19 assists) and was named Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player for a second season in a row to become the first player in league history to win the award in consecutive seasons.
Additionally, his stellar performances at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ saw him feature in each of Argentina’s eight matches en route to the final, recording an impressive eight goals and four assists, and establishing several records in the process. At the global competition, Messi became one of the first players to feature in six different World Cups, and set the record as the player with most wins (23), most assists (12) and most finals started (3). He also achieved several milestones on the scoring front, initially becoming the top scorer in competition history with a brace against Austria in Argentina’s second group stage match and ultimately closing the tournament as the second player with most World Cup goals (21), while also becoming the first player to score in six consecutive knockout stage matches, and overall to score nine consecutive World Cup matches.