Messi easily defeated Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe to win the 2023 Golden Ball last night. This is the eighth time the Argentine great has received this distinction. That helped him prolong his Golden Ball winning streak.

Lionel Messi broke a number of records after winning the Golden Ball – 1

Messi won his eighth Golden Ball championship, three times more than second place. Ronaldo, C.

El Pulga is currently three times clear of second place C.Ronaldo. The five-time Golden Ball winner from Portugal has little prospect of catching up to Messi. That means the Argentine striker will hold the record for many years to come.

Furthermore, Messi became the first player in history to win the Golden Ball three times. He won this medal with Barcelona in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, and 2021. Messi is now honored when he wears the Inter Miami jersey as the first player to receive the golden ball outside of Europe and the only player competing in the US tournament to receive the golden ball.

Superstar number ten also became the first player in American Professional League (MLS) history to win the Golden Ball. This competition has never had many stars of Messi’s quality before.

Lionel Messi broke a number of records after winning the Golden Ball – 2

Messi has the longest gap between two Golden Ball victories (14 years).

Following that, Messi has the biggest interval between winning the Golden Ball twice. El Pulga received this championship for the first time when he was only 22 years old. At the age of 36, he was still receiving the Golden Ball 14 years later.

The Inter Miami player also established a new record by becoming the player with the most appearances in the top three Golden Balls in history, 14 times. From 2007 to the present, superstar number ten has only been out of this position twice.

Only one player older than Messi has previously won the Golden Ball: Sir Stanley Matthews. In 1956, at the age of 41, the English football hero won this trophy.