Lionel Messi becomes the third soccer player ever to win the Princesa de Asturias Sports Award

While training with the Argentina national team ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Lionel Messi received another individual honor. This time, it came in the form of the Princesa de Asturias Sports Award, making him just the third soccer player in history to receive the distinction.

“Messi has earned everyone’s respect and admiration for his exemplary behavior on the field and for his consistency, humility, and commitment to the collective game,” said Teresa Perales, president of the committee that selected the forward as the winner from a pool of 27 candidates representing 12 different countries.

Among the achievements recognized in awarding Messi the honor, Perales also highlighted “his dazzling talent, his exceptional sporting career, and his remarkable and ongoing charitable work to promote access to education and healthcare for underprivileged children.”

The Princesa de Asturias Sports Award is an honor established in 1987 that annually recognizes athletes and institutions whose lives and accomplishments are considered exemplary for contributing to human development and the promotion of sports. “The goals of the Princess of Asturias Foundation are to contribute to the recognition and promotion of scientific, cultural, and humanistic values that are part of humanity’s universal heritage,” according to the organization’s official website.

Who has won the Princesa de Asturias Sports Award?

Lionel Messi is only the third soccer player to receive the award as an individual. The previous recipients were Xavi Hernandez and Iker Casillas, who were jointly honored at the 2012 ceremony following Spain’s UEFA Euro triumph that year.

However, in previous years, soccer had also been recognized through team achievements rather than individual players. Brazil’s national team received the award in 2002, while Spain’s national team earned the honor in 2010, both after winning the FIFA World Cup.

Other notable recipients include British athlete Sebastian Coe (1987), Czech tennis player Martina Navratilova (1994), American track and field star Carl Lewis (1996), German Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher (2007), Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal (2008), and basketball players Pau and Marc Gasol. Before Messi, the most recent recipient of the Princesa de Asturias Sports Award was Serena Williams.