Lionel Messi has been named as the IFFHS Best Playmaker in the world.

Messi continues to win individual awards and now it is for the best playmaker. The Argentine has been named as the IFFHS Best Playmaker since 2006.

He is the only Argentine on the list but with many more points than Andres Iniesta who is in second place. Messi leads with 284 points, Andres Iniesta with 197 points and Kevin De Bruyne with 141 points.

Roberto Abbondanzieri and Sergio Goycochea are in the IFFHS Top Goalkeepers award.

Abbondanzieri and Goycochea are the only two Argentine goalkeepers in the list of 50 released. The rankings are from 1987-2022 with Manuel Neuer, Iker Casillas and Gianluigi Buffon in the top three goalkeepers.

Germany’s Neuer is third with 219 points, Casillas with 260 points and Buffon with 357 points. For Argentina, they fall towards the middle of the list.

With 68 points, Roberto Abbondanzieri is ranked 31 with Goycochea ranked 32 with 66 points. Abbondanzieri, a great penalty shot stopper, won several league titles with Boca Juniors as well as three Copa Libertadores (including a fourth in 2010 with Internacional) titles and two Intercontinental (now Club World Cup) titles.

He also won several individual awards, including the 2003 Best South American goalkeeper award and the Ricardo Zamora trophy in 2006-2007 as best goalkeeper in La Liga.

Sergio Goycochea won league titles with River Plate and also won two Copa America titles, a FIFA Confederations Cup, an Artemio Franchi Cup and was runner up at the 1990 World Cup with the Argentina national team.

He was also named as the 1990 Footballer of the Year in Argentina.

Nine Argentine coaches are in the IFFHS Top 50 Coaches award.

The most out of any country, Argentina are represented nine times on the list with Diego Simeone being the highest rated. The award spans from 1996-2022. The top three are Pep Guardiola with 221 points, José Mourinho with 242 points and Sir Alex Ferguson with 257 points.

For Argentina, the highest ranked is Diego Simeone in eighth place with 168 points. Here are the rankings of the Argentine coaches:

8. Diego Simeone: 168 points
9. Marcelo Bielsa: 145 points
10. José Pekerman: 104 points
11. Carlos Bianchi: 75 points
12. Héctor Cúper: 63 points
13. Alejandro Sabella: 61 points
14. Mauricio Pochettino (tied): 56 points
15. Marcelo Gallardo (tied): 56 points
16. Ramón Díaz: 55 points

Mateo Retegui and Bruno Zapelli are both called to represent the Italian national team.

Italy will soon have two Argentine born players who will be representing them. According to Luciano García, Retegui, the 23 year old striker from Tigre is set to be called up to the Italian national team by coach Roberto Mancini.

Retegui is presently on loan to Tigre from Boca Juniors. Retegui is not the only Argentine who will soon be representing Italy.

Bruno Zapelli has accepted to represent the Italian U21 team. The 20 year old midfielder from Belgrano has confirmed it himself that he will be representing Italy at youth level.