Lionel Messi won his 8th Ballon d’Or and less than 24 hours after winning the trophy, this is how he was greeted at Inter Miami

Argentine magician Lionel Messi scored another notable career achievement when he won his eighth Ballon D’or in Paris on Monday. Less than 24 hours after the ceremony, he was greeted like this by his teammates at Inter Miami!

The offensive record holder finished ahead of second-placed Erling Haaland and third-placed Kylian Mbappe in the prestigious award. There were many opinions on the question of whether Messi or Haaland deserved the trophy more, but in the end the Argentine took the Ballon d’Or.

His victory was decided by 100 sports journalists from the top 100 countries according to the FIFA rankings.

The winger’s World Cup title was a major contributor to this feat. In Qatar during this year’s World Cup he scored 7 goals in 7 matches and was also named the best player of the tournament.

Not even 24 hours after receiving the Ballon D’or, Messi was already back among his teammates at Inter Miami. They gave him a warm welcome full of congratulations.

To top it all off, the players added the symbolic golden eight, representing the record number of these individual awards that France Football has been giving out since 1956.

“For the best player in the world, everyone has already signed it. Thank you Leo, once again a huge congratulations , ocho”, the words were directed to Messi by Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender. For the record, the Spanish word “ocho” means number 8.

In addition to the World Cup, the Argentine played a key role in Beckham’s American Inter last season. He scored 11 goals in 14 games and helped the team win its first ever Leagues Cup trophy, among other things.

“It’s a beautiful feeling to be standing here again and enjoying these moments. I could never have imagined that I would have the career that I have.”

“Everything I’ve done, all the great teams I’ve been a part of, I’m proud of everything. The Golden Balls are special to me for many different reasons,” the famous forward said at the gala.

Source: Twitter/X, Sportbible