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The American star of Inter Miami, Argentinian Lionel Messi, received the 2026 Princess of Asturias Sports Award, awarded by the Princess of Asturias Foundation, days before the start of the World Cup.
Messi is set to lead Argentina to defend their World Cup titlewho won for the first time in his career in 2022 in Qatar
The World Championship, which is planned to be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico, will start on June 11 and end on July 19.
In turn, the newspaper “Mundo Deportivo” reported that before the legend of Barcelona received it on Wednesday, 27 candidates from 12 different countries were competing for the prize of the Princess of Asturias.
The Princess of Asturias Sports Award is a prestigious Spanish award given annually to individuals or institutions in recognition of outstanding contributions to sports that promote the values of solidarity, commitment and sportsmanship.
The prestigious jury, led by swimmer Teresa Perales and included by Mundo Deportivo CEO Santi Nola, chose Lionel Messi from all the candidates as the winner of the 2026 award.
According to the Catalan newspaper, the Argentine, who holds the record for the most titles in football history, was chosen not only for his brilliant talent and exceptional sporting career, but also for his “relentless and continuous philanthropic efforts to improve the education and healthcare of the most deprived children”.
Lionel Messi has earned the respect of all football fans not only for what he has achieved on the pitch, but for his legacy and for building a legendary career based on “consistency, humility and loyalty to the team spirit”.
With Barcelona, Messi owns four Champions League titles, ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles, three Club World Cup titles, three European Super Cups and eight Spanish Super Cups. After that, the Argentinean played with “Paris Saint-Germain” from 2021 to 2023, and then joined the club.Inter Miami, where he has spent four seasons so far.
American tennis player Serena Williams won this award last year, having won 23 Grand Slam titles, in addition to 4 Olympic gold medals.
Olympic, world and European badminton champion Carolina Marin won the award in 2024, and Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchugin received it in 2023.
Although this award was launched in 1987, the sport of football has won it only 4 times: in 2002 by Brazil and in 2010 by Spain, and in 2012 shared by Iker Casillas and Xavi Hernandez, then in 2026 it was Messi’s turn.
