Leo Messi has a World Cup, four Champions Leagues, and eight Ballon d’Or awards. But all those titles are football achievements, earned on the pitch. The 38-year-old Argentine footballer now receives the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports, one of the major sports awards, one that transcends what merely happens in stadiums. The award ceremony will be held on October 24 at the Campoamor Theater in Oviedo.
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On the verge of playing his sixth World Cup, Messi’s stature grew even larger. The award jury, which announced its decision this Wednesday, values in these cases the exemplary nature of his career and that he has achieved new milestones. And the former Barcelona player fits perfectly after nearly 22 years of career.
The Award Ceremony
The award ceremony will be held on October 24 at the Campoamor Theater in Oviedo
Among the reasons given by the jury, chaired by Paralympic swimmer Teresa Perales, for awarding Messi’s candidacy is that “he has also earned the respect and admiration of all for his exemplary behavior on the field and for his consistency, humility, and commitment to team play.”
FC Barcelona, the club where Messi developed most of his career, from his arrival in 2000 until his departure in 2021, congratulated the star on social media. “It is a well-deserved recognition of an extraordinary career, marked by his legend at Barça and a career full of successes with our club,” they dedicated to him.
The Argentine left Rosario at 13 to grow at Barça and La Masia. After triumphing in Europe and reigning in the world in Qatar in 2022, Messi went on to conquer soccer with Inter Miami. And he achieved it by becoming Major League Soccer champion last December 6.
Author of 910 goals, between Barça, PSG, Inter, and the Argentine national team, Messi has led his teams with ambition but always with a noble and sporting spirit, to the point that he has only been sent off three times as a professional.
Unmatched Record
The Argentine is the most decorated football player in history with 48 titles, including a World Cup and four Champions Leagues
It is only the fourth time the award has gone to football, after the Brazilian national team (2002), the Spanish national team after winning the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and two years later Iker Casillas and Xavi Hernández were recognized, who steered the group’s atmosphere after tensions caused by Mourinho, to win the 2012 European Championship. But the first time an individual footballer has won it.
Messi, the most decorated footballer in history with 48 titles, follows in the roll of honor Serena Williams, another global legend, and Spaniard Carolina Marín, a pioneer in badminton (2024). Among other international sports personalities who have received the distinction are athletes Kipchoge, Gebrselassie, Isinbayeva, Carl Lewis, Bubka, and Sebastian Coe, driver Michael Schumacher, and tennis player Steffi Graf.
First Solo Footballer
Previously, the award was won by the Brazil national team, the Spanish team that won in South Africa, and the Casillas-Xavi duo
As for Spanish athletes, Rafael Nadal, Miguel Indurain, Fernando Alonso, the Gasol brothers, Severiano Ballesteros, Chema Olazabal, Carlos Sainz, Manel Estiarte, and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario have been awarded.
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