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Lionel Messi’s status as a sporting great was cemented long before he was installed as the favourite for this year’s Ballon d’Or and named in the running for the MLS MVP (Most Valuable Player) award.
Beyond the binary choice many believe there is between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the greatest 21st-century footballer, there is a more complicated debate to be had around the Argentina captain’s achievements among the greatest of all time from any sport.
Messi could become the MVP in the US for the first time if he does so with Inter Miami. He’s already won world football’s equivalent honour more often than any other player, and October 30 could see him lift the prize for the eighth time.
So, how does Messi’s Ballon d’Or tally stack up against the most frequent MVPs of NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB? The Sporting News takes a look at the numbers.
Messi is the most successful player in Ballon d’Or history, winning the most prestigious individual honour in world football seven titles between 2009 and 2021. Ronaldo has won it five times.
Six of Messi’s Ballon d’Or title wins came as a Barcelona player. His 2021 win came after he joined Paris Saint-Germain.
Here are his finishes in the vote.
How many times has Messi been MVP in the domestic game?
The club MVP award Messi has won is the La Liga Best Player award, which he won nine times while playing for Barcelona in the Spanish top flight.
The award was only first distributed in 2009 — Messi made his Barca debut six years earlier — and was known as the MVP award from the 2016/17 season.
He also won the Copa America Best Player award in 2015 and 2021, recognising him as the star of the South American international football competition, which Argentina won in the latter of those years. He was also named the best player at the 2014 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.
Messi was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 2009 and the Best FIFA Men’s Player honour in 2019 and 2022.
Here’s when Messi was the MVP in domestic competition.
- 2008–09
- 2009–10
- 2010–11
- 2011–12
- 2012–13
- 2014–15
- 2016–17
- 2017–18
- 2018–19
MORE: Ballon d’Or 2023 nominees
Who has been MVP most in NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL?
In the NBA, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was named MVP six times between 1971 and 1980, three each with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers.
Bill Russell, of the Boston Celtics, was one behind with five between 1958 and 1965, and Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan matched Russell’s tally between 1988 and 1998.
LeBron James is the nearest modern player to Abdul-Jabbar’s astonishing total, winning MVP twice each with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat between 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013.
Quarterback Peyton Manning remains the player with the most NFL MVP titles, winning it with the Indiana Colts in 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2009, and Denver Broncos in 2013 to make five in total.
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Aaron Rodgers — now a veteran with the New York Jets — is one behind thanks to his achievements with the Green Bay Packers between 2011 and 2021, while Tom Brady is one of four players to have won it three times.
In baseball, left fielder Barry Bonds is the runaway record-holder with seven MVP awards between 1990 and 2004.
Bonds won the award twice with the Pittsburgh Pirates and five times with the San Francisco Giants, and his run of four consecutive victories between 2001 and 2004 puts him four ahead of any other player.
They’re a distant second in the totals, but three players have picked up a hat-trick of wins: Mike Trout between 2014 and 2019, Albert Pujols between 2005 and 2009, and Alex Rodriguez from 2003 to 2007.
The Hart Memorial Trophy in hockey’s NHL has been dominated by Wayne Gretzky, who was named MVP eight times with the Edmonton Oilers and once with the Los Angeles Kings between 1980 and 1989.
Gretzky’s extraordinary run of brilliance meant he won the trophy every year during the 1980s except 1988 and is three ahead of Gordie Howe, the winner six times with the Detroit Red Wings between 1952 and 1963.
Eddie Shore is outright third in the running with four MVP titles for the Boston Bruins during the 1930s. Two modern players are among those to have won it three times: Alexander Ovechkin with the Washington Capitals between 2008 and 2013, and Connor McDavid with the Oilers from 2017 to 2023.
If we take the Ballon d’Or as a comparable award to those MVP prizes, Messi needs one more to move outright second in our list, and two to draw level with ‘The Great One’.
Will Messi be the MLS MVP for 2023?
Despite only having played six games in the league at the time, Messi was one of 30 candidates drawn up in October 2023 for the MVP award after being nominated by Inter Miami.
The prolific forward, who helped Miami win the Leagues Cup but missed out on the playoffs with his new club, did not make the shortlist. FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta, Golden Boot winner Denis Bouanga of LAFC, and Atlanta’s Thiago Almada — a compatriot of Messi — make up the final three.
Messi could, however, win the Newcomer of the Year award, in which he is competing with St Louis City midfielder Eduard Lowen and Atlanta United striker Giorgos Giakoumakis.
