The soccer world praised the Argentine, and in their own ways, each of the leading figures who spoke emphasized that the impact he has made over the past year is impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n
Lionel Messi’s 17th Ballon d’Or nomination has once again put the Argentine in the spotlight. The Inter Miami captain is once again among the 30 nominees for the award, following a season in which he won the MLS Cup and led Argentina to the World Cup final once again.<\/p>\n
Quotes from the World of Soccer<\/p>\n
Inter Miami celebrated their captain’s nomination and highlighted his role in the team’s success.<\/p>\n
Our captain has been nominated for the 2026 Ballon d’Or \u2728. Messi earns his 17th career nomination after playing a key role in the club’s success by winning the MLS Cup and leading Argentina<\/p>\n
Inter Miami FC<\/p>\n
MLS also highlighted his season. The league noted that the nomination comes after winning the MLS Cup and earning his second consecutive MVP award, in addition to emphasizing his key role with the Argentine national team during the World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cMessi’s inclusion on the list of 30 finalists selected by France Football comes after he won the MLS Cup with Inter Miami and claimed his second consecutive MVP award. The iconic No. 10 also led Argentina to the World Cup final, breaking numerous records.<\/p>\n
MLS\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the most emphatic compliments came from his own national team. Lautaro Mart\u00ednez, also a Ballon d’Or nominee, was unequivocal when asked about Messi’s chances:<\/p>\n
Does Messi have a chance to win the Ballon d’Or? Yes, without a doubt. He’s the best in the world and the best in the history of the sport<\/p>\n
Lautaro Martinez<\/p>\n
We\u2019re sure to continue hearing statements that pay homage to the greatest player of all time. Messi, meanwhile, will be making his 17th appearance at the ceremony, with eight Ballon d\u2019Or trophies already in his collection. The ceremony will take place on October 26 in London.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The soccer world praised the Argentine, and in their own ways, each of the leading figures who spoke…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-885830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=885830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}