Lionel Messi Is First Footballer To Be Crowned Time Magazine’s ‘Athlete Of The Year

After winning the Ballon d’Or, Lionel Messi has scooped up another incredible individual honour to add to his already glistening football collection.

Lionel Messi became the first ever individual football player to be named TIME Magazine’s ‘Athlete of the Year’.

The Inter Miami star had only recently finished celebrating after scooping up his record breaking eighth Ballon d’Or award. He beat Manchester City Treble winner Erling Haaland and World Cup finalist Kylian Mbappe to the iconic individual award.

TIME announced Messi as their 2023 Athlete of the Year. He is the first ever individual soccer star to be awarded the honour in the magazine’s history.

In 2019, the US Women’s National Team were the first ever soccer players to be accredited with the award. The other proceeding individual honours were scooped up by LA Lakers icon LeBron James, gymnastics superstar Simone Biles and baseball legend Aaron Judge.