Lionel Messi and Ángel Di María have been nominated for the 2023 IFFHS Men’s World Best Playmaker award.

Messi and Di María are the two Argentine players that have been nominated. Messi won the Ballon d’Or and with Inter Miami won the Leagues Cup.

Ángel Di María rejoined Benfica and has been one of their best players. The 35 year old won the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira since joining them. Here are the nominees:

Lionel Messi (Argentina, Inter Miami)
Ángel Di María (Argentina, Benfica)
Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium, Manchester City)
Bernardo Silva (Portugal, Manchester City)
Bruno Fernandes (Portugal, Manchester United
Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Turkey, Inter Milan
Christian Eriksen (Denmark, Manchester United
Dušan Tadić (Serbia, Ajax/Fenerbahçe)
Sergej Milinković-Savić (Serbia, Lazio/Al Hilal Riyadh)
Pedri (Spain, Barcelona)
Toni Kroos (Germany, Real Madrid)
Jamal Musiala (Germany, Bayern Munich)
Martin Ødegaard (Norway, Arsenal)
Jude Bellingham (England, Real Madrid
Trent Alexander-Arnold (England, Liverpool)
Nicolò Barella (Italy, Inter Milan)
André-Frank Zambo Anguissa Cameroon, Napoli)
Daichi Kamada (Japan, Eintracht Frankfurt/Lazio)
Federico Valverde (Uruguay, Real Madrid)
Giovanni Reyna (USA, Borussia Dortmund)

Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martínez and Germán Cano nominated for 2023 IFFHS Best Player
Alejandro Garnacho nominated for 2023 IFFHS Men’s World Best Youth Player

Alejandro Garnacho has been nominated for the 2023 IFFHS Men’s World Best Youth Player award.

Garnacho has had a stand out 2023 where he has played for the senior Argentina national team and also become part of the Manchester United team. The 19 year old recently won the Premier League Goal of the Month and was named as Manchester United’s Player of the Month.

The award is presented to a player born after January 1, 2003. Here are the nominees:

Alejandro Garnacho (Argentina, Manchester United)
Jude Bellingham (England, Borussia Dortmund/Real Madrid)
Jamal Musiala (Germany, Bayern Munich)
Gavi (Spain, Barcelona)
Florian Wirtz (Germany, Bayer Leverkusen)
Xavi Simons (Netherlands, PSV/RB Leipzig)
Evan Ferguson (Republic of Ireland, Brighton & Hove Albion)
Rasmus Højlund (Denmark, Atalanta/Manchester United
Lamine Yamal (Spain, Barcelona)
Warren Zaïre-Emery (France, Paris Saint-Germain)
Mathys Tel (France, Bayern Munich)
Alejandro Balde (Spain, Barcelona)
Roméo Lavia (Belgium, Southampton/Chelsea)
António Silva (Portugal, Benfica)
Levi Colwill (England, Brighton & Hove Albion/Chelsea)
Benjamin Šeško (Slovenia, Red Bull Salzburg/RB Leipzig)
Vitor Roque (Brazil, Athletico Paranaense)
Endrick (Brazil, Palmeiras)
Julio Enciso (Paraguay, Brighton & Hove Albion)
Sávio (Brazil, PSV/Girona)
Ricardo Pepi (USA, Groningen/PSV)
Ousmane Diomande (Ivory Coast, Sporting Lisbon)
Carlos Baleba (Cameroon, Lille/Brighton & Hove Albion)
Ernest Nuamah (Ghana, Nordsjælland/Lyon)
Karim Konaté (Ivory Coast, Liefering/Red Bull Salzburg)
Abbosbek Fayzullaev (Uzbekistan, Pakhtakor/CSKA Moscow)

Three Argentine players were also nominated for an IFFHS award with Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martínez and Germán Cano nominated for 2023 IFFHS Best Player.

Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martínez and Germán Cano have been nominated for the IFFHS Men’s World Best Player 2023 award.

Messi won the award last year and is nominated once more, this time as an Inter Miami player. With the club, he won the Leagues Cup and with the Argentina national team, has scored three goals in the 2026 South American World Cup qualifiers. He recently won the Ballon d’Or, the best player in the world.

Lautaro Martínez is also nominated. He won the Coppa Italia last season with Inter and also made the Champions League final. He presently has 14 goals in 15 league matches.

Germán Cano of Fluminense is also nominated. He won the Copa Libertadores and scored 40 goals in 59 matches. Here are the nominees:

Lionel Messi (Argentina, Inter Miami)
Lautaro Martinez (Argentina, Inter)
German Cano (Argentina, Fluminense)
Jude Bellingham (England, Real Madrid)
Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium, Manchester City)
Rúben Dias (Portugal, Manchester City)
İlkay Gündoğan (Germany, Manchester City/Barcelona)
Erling Haaland (Norway, Manchester City)
Rodri (Spain, Manchester City)
Bernardo Silva (Portugal, Manchester City)
Harry Kane (England, Tottenham Hotspur/Bayern Munich)
Kim Min-jae (South Korea, Napoli/Bayern Munich)
Nicolò Barella (Italy, Inter Milan)
Kylian Mbappé (France, Paris Saint-Germain)
Jamal Musiala (Germany, Bayern Munich)
Martin Ødegaard (Norway, Arsenal)
Bukayo Saka (England, Arsenal)
Victor Osimhen (Nigeria, Napoli)
Vinícius Júnior (Brazil, Real Madrid)
Bruno Fernandes (Portugal, Manchester United)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt, Liverpool)
Romelu Lukaku (Belgium, Inter/Roma)
Alphonso Davies (Canada, Bayern Munich)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Al Nassr Jeddah)
Antoine Griezmann (France, Atlético Madrid)

Emiliano Martínez commented on Virgil van Dijk and Emiliano Martínez’s penalty kicks at the World Cup.

Martínez made two penalty kick saves against the Netherlands at the World Cup, saved one and had one which was missed against him versus France in the World Cup final. The best goalkeeper in the world spoke to ESPN about the Argentina national team, the World Cup and using a psychologist during the tournament. He also commented on van Dijk and Tchouaméni taking their penalty kicks. Here is what he had to say:

“I had seen three finals that Van Dijk had kicked to the left.

“There’s a final at Wembley that stuck in my mind, because I watch a lot of football, that Kepa stood there as if he were fooling him and leaving him the whole goal free and he still hit it to that side. And he put it in and looked at the goalkeeper.

“In the three shots he kicked there, they had won. I said: ‘I’ll stay calm and I’m going to die there’.

“If I save two and my teammates score two, we have an 80% chance of winning.”

When talking about Aurélien Tchouaméni’s penalty:

“Look at this kid’s face, tell me he’s not nervous. He was dead. I said: ‘if he misses, we are champions’.

“I practiced it with my psychologist: if he saved one, I made life impossible for the next one.

“If he went to the goal, I would also save it.”

Emiliano Martínez spoke about this Argentina team’s place in history, winning the World Cup and using a psychologist.

Martínez has won everything there is to win with the Argentina national team. He won the Copa America while also being named as the best goalkeeper, he won the Finalissima and won the biggest prize there is to win which is the World Cup.

The Argentine was also named the best goalkeeper at the World Cup to continue to cement his legacy in Argentine football. Martínez spoke to ESPN about the current Argentina team’s place in history. Here is what he had to say:

“I want to win one more Copa America and say: ‘this team is going to be the best in history.

What I enjoyed the most and I still enjoy it every day and when I die I will enjoy it too, is that we have one more star in the team.

“It is not only ‘ah, I won the Cup’ but also ‘I generated this for the next generation’. They are going to say Argentina has 3 stars and not this generation won the World Cup.

“We generated a standard for the next generation to win the fourth, because in the end, football in Argentina is union, it is passion”.

He also commented on the World Cup and speaking to his psychologist after losing to Saudi Arabia in the first match:

“I used my psychologist a lot those three days, after Saudi Arabia. I told him: ‘Look, I think that if I lose to Mexico, I’m going home, it’s killing me’. I would go to sleep and sometimes I would wake up and say: ‘If I lose to Mexico, I’m going home’.

“I was in the room alone… I set up my room for a month. I put pictures of my kids, their favorite dolls, everything. I took the PlayStation, I set it up like at home and I said ‘I can’t go to Argentina in 10 days, it must be devastating’.

“I have the World Cup in my studio, where I play and have my meetings.

“It is upstairs, and I have it with lights. Sometimes I go in at night and it’s elevated and with light blue lights, I look at it and smile.”

Dibu also spoke about his performance in the World Cup final:

“Against France I saved badly, they came at me three times and they were three goals. The one against Mbappé, I was in a bad position, I touched it and it beat me.

“I didn’t feel I saved well in that final. They see the final save or the penalties, but for me I didn’t save well.”

Argentina’s number one goalkeeper commented on his team mates:

“I know the virtue of Cuti (Cristian Romero) and Ota (Nicolás Otamendi). Either the ball passes or the player passes, not both. That gives me life.

“In the final against France, Cuti went with both feet to Mbappé, I grabbed him by the shirt at halftime and told him: ‘if you get kicked out, I’ll beat you up after the game’.

“I have to tell Cuti to please stop hitting. He plays like that. But they are impressive.”