David Beckham, the co-owner of Inter Miami and former England captain, believes Argentina's Lionel Messi deserves to be crowned with the Ballon d'Or for 2026 after the remarkable season he has produced.
Messi led Inter Miami to the Campeones Cup title in the early hours of Thursday, scoring his 100th goal in the American club's shirt and setting up the second, netted by Brazilian Casemiro, in a 2-0 win over Mexico's Cruz Azul. Beckham's praise followed.
Speaking to the British Broadcasting Corporation "BBC", Beckham said: "When you see him do things like this, and when you see what he produced at the World Cup, there is no player aged 39 who does that and delivers at this level."
He added: "He deserves to be among the candidates for the Ballon d'Or, and in my opinion, he should win it."
Exceptional numbers at the World Cup
Messi produced an exceptional World Cup with Argentina, scoring 8 goals and providing 4 assists as his country reached the final, only to lose to Spain.
Those returns took the Argentine star to 12 assists across his World Cup history, including 10 in the knockout rounds. No other player has managed that in the tournament's history, with the next best sitting at 8.
He also ranks second on the all-time World Cup top scorers list with 21 goals, behind France's Kylian Mbappé, who has 22.
Messi writes a new record with Inter Miami
Against Cruz Azul, Messi reached his 100th goal in an Inter Miami shirt. He opened the scoring in the 24th minute with a header, making the most of a cross from teammate Luis Suárez.
The Argentine star thought he had added the second after going one-on-one with the goalkeeper and firing the ball into the net, but the referee disallowed it for offside.
He still played the starring role. Messi delivered the corner that Casemiro rose to and headed home in the 81st minute, securing Inter Miami's first Campeones Cup title.
The achievement came in the wake of Messi's announcement last August that he was retiring from international football, alongside his talk about his footballing future following the death of his father, Jorge.
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