Lionel Messi in A League of His Own in List of Top 10 Players with Most Individual Awards

• Winning an individual award sets a player apart from the rest of the pack
• Lionel Messi has established himself as one of the best in history
• Messi now has won a total of 52 individual awards during his lucrative career

One of the best criteria to use to determine just how good a player can be is by the number of individual accolades they won during their career.

While it takes a team effort to win club trophies, one has to have something extra special to be recognized for individual performances on the pitch.

One such player, who has become synonymous with individual awards is the great Lionel Messi.

The 36-year-old was feted with The Best FIFA Men’s Player award on Monday, January 15 in a ceremony in London, to further expand his trophy-laden cabinet.

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Messi beat the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe to the award, despite the duo being considerably younger than the Argentine.

With his win, Messi extended his individual honours to 52, which is more than any other football player in history.

According to Messi.com, the Inter Miami star has a wide array of individual honours, ranging from eight Ballon d’Ors to a FIFA World Player award which he won in 2009.

Messi also boasts several La Liga MVP awards from his time in the Spanish top flight.

Cristiano Ronaldo a distant second

A distant second in the list of the most-feted players in terms of individual awards is Cristiano Ronaldo, who has an impressive 32 accolades.

One can argue that Ronaldo’s awards are more diverse, as he has won the Golden Boot in three different leagues, the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A.

Here are the top 10 players with the most individual accolades:

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The little known rule that helped Messi beat Haaland

Sports Brief also reported on how Lionel Messi beat Haaland to the Best FIFA Men's Player of the Year prize despite the duo tying for votes.

The tiebreaker went down to team captain votes, and Messi emerged victorious as the likes of Harry Kane, Andy Robertson, Aaron Ramsey and Jonny Evans all voted for the Argentine.