Football's world governing body FIFA named Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery as the three nominations from a 10-player shortlist for the Ballon d'Or award on Monday.
Lionel Messi stole Cristiano Ronaldo's thunder again by plundering yet another hat-trick for Barcelona and Basel ruined Jose Mourinho's Champions League return with a shock win at Chelsea.
The 35-year-old also paid tribute to Messi, who played for Real's arch-rivals Barcelona.
This is the first time a player other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo has topped the list in eight years.
Argentina put behind a dismal first half to beat Algeria 4-3 in a friendly international.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi set a Champions League scoring record when he took his tally to 14 in the competition so far this season as the holders knocked out AC Milan to reach the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Chhetri still takes advice from former captain Bhutia who has a huge influence on him.
Argentina forward Lionel Messi will not play in the Olympic Games after a sporting tribunal ruled on Wednesday that his club Barcelona were not obliged to release him.
Lukaku, who was signed for around 80 million euros (71.2 million pounds) from Manchester United in the close season, is the club's leading goalscorer in Serie A alongside midfielder Stefano Sensi, with three goals.
The 20-year-old Lionel Messi, three years Cristiano Ronaldo's junior, was the outstanding attacking player on show in the Champions League second leg semi-final and almost single-handedly led Barcelona's attempt to claw back Paul Scholes's early goal and take the 2006 winners through to Moscow with an away goal.
Lionel Messi has recovered fully from his thigh muscle injury and can begin work on his fitness although no date has yet been set for his return to action, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) said on Friday.
The Copa America 2021 championship final will be played between Brazil and Argentina from 05:30 am IST Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Lionel Messi's early goal earned Paris St Germain a 1-0 win at Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday as they opened a two-point lead at the top of Ligue 1.
A brilliant World Cup for Lionel Messi would be good for Argentina's chances of victory although it is preferable to rely on the team and not one man however great, according to defender Gabriel Heinze.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi raised eyebrows when he said in passing on Monday that he did not know where he would be next year.
Barcelona will ignore attempts by Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho to play mind games, according to Lionel Messi.
Lionel Messi came off the bench and scored twice on his return from injury and Cesc Fabregas also netted a double as Barcelona strolled to a 4-0 win at home to Getafe in their King's Cup last 16, first leg on Wednesday.
Lionel Messi became the first player to win 10 La Liga crowns with Barcelona and only the third player from any club to do so.
Lionel Messi says he wanted Neymar to return to Barcelona this year as the Brazilian would have helped the club take a leap forward
Messi named FIFA player of 2022, England women rewarded for Euro campaign
Barcelona's Lionel Messi broke free from Arsenal's shackles to score two late goals and put the Champions League holders on the brink of the quarter-finals with a clinical 2-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
Barcelona have reached agreement on new contracts with key squad members Lionel Messi, Xavi and Carles Puyol, the La Liga leaders said on Tuesday.
Argentina beat Venezuela 2-0 away in their World Cup qualifying match.
The 25-year-old penned a deal agreed in December, which includes a two-year extension on his previous agreement and secures his services until he is 31.
Lionel Messi scored one goal and created another as Champions League winners Barcelona lifted their fourth European Super Cup trophy Friday with a 2-0 victory over Porto, who finished with nine men.
Lionel Messi was sent off before half-time and then angrily hit out at "corrupt" tournament organisers after Argentina beat Chile 2-1 to win a bad-tempered third-place playoff at the Copa America on Saturday.
Barcelona took another big stride towards a second-straight La Liga triumph when top scorer Lionel Messi struck twice in a 4-1 home win over relegation threatened Tenerife on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi at last came into his own at the Copa America as Argentina beat a defensive Costa Rica 3-0 with two goals from Sergio Aguero to secure second place in Group A on Monday.
Lionel Messi said his side were superior to every team in the league after he scored a hat-trick in Sunday's 4-2 win at Deportivo which clinched the club's 25th Spanish title with four games left in the season.
Lionel Messi has played down the importance of individual achievements and said the key thing is for Barcelona to continue making history as a team after he became the La Liga club's record scorer on Sunday.
Argentina's Lionel Messi was named World Player of the Year for the second time in a row on Monday, surprisingly beating his Barcelona team mates Andres Iniesta and Xavi.
Lionel Messi mesmerised Nigeria in a magical display to confirm Argentina as one of the World Cup favourites but a goalkeeping bungle against the United States set England off to a disappointing start on Saturday.
World player of the year Lionel Messi lived up to his billing with a wonderful performance in Argentina's 1-0 win over Nigeria to confirm the South Americans' status as one of the World Cup favourites.
After picking fifth Ballon d'Or, Ronaldo's reignites eternal debate
India's Test captain and numero uno batsman Virat Kohli has been named as 'Third Most Marketable Sportsperson' in the world ahead of football superstar Lionel Messi, world No 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic in a latest survey published by magazine 'SportsPro'. Kohli is ranked behind NBA's 'Most Valuable Player' Stephen Curry and Juventus' French international Paul Pogba. Incidentally, Kohli is just ahead of golfer Jordan Spieth. Djokovic is 23rd in the list, followed by Messi at 27th and 'Sprint King' Usain Bolt at 31.
Images from the 'El Classico'match between Real Madrid and Barcelona FC played at the Bernabeu stadium on Saturday.
After underwhelming early performances, traditional Latin American top dogsArgentina and reigning African champions Nigeria have something to prove when they meet in their final World Cup Group F match on Wednesday.
Barcelona wasted a golden opportunity to extend their lead at the top of LaLiga as they were shocked 1-0 at lowly Almeria on Sunday thanks to a first-half strike by El Bilal Toure.
Lionel Messi's brilliance sent holders Barcelona through to the Champions League quarter-finals with a 4-0 dismantling of VfB Stuttgart on Wednesday.
Lionel Messi may often be criticized for not showing the same spark for his country Argentina as for his club Barcelona, but the national team's midfielder Jonas Gutierrez and defender Pablo Zabaleta feel that the Argentine superstar gives his 100 per cent while representing his nation.
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