Kenya Insights

Tag: Lionel Messi

  • Messi, Ronaldo Set To Play In World Cup For 6th Time

    Messi, Ronaldo Set To Play In World Cup For 6th Time

    Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are set to make their sixth World Cup appearances, which are currently being hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

    Argentina will face Algeria at Kansas City Stadium in Group J, while Portugal will play against the Democratic Republic of the Congo at Houston Stadium in a Group K game.

    Before the tournament, the players who have appeared in all World Cup tournaments in the 2000s are attracting attention.

    Lionel Messi, the 38-year-old Argentinian striker who left his mark on world football in the 2000s, and Cristiano Ronaldo, the 41-year-old Portuguese footballer, will also participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, marking their 6th appearance in the tournament and setting a historic record.

    Lionel Messi

    The 38-year-old star player of Argentina, who won the last World Cup in 2022, is expected to be in the national team squad for his 6th World Cup.

    The Argentinian striker holds the record for most appearances in World Cup history with 26 matches.

    Starting the tournament at the age of 38, Messi could end his participation in the tournament at the age of 39, after his birthday on June 24, if Argentina manage to advance to the later stages of the tournament after the group matches.

    Messi also holds the record for the most goals scored in the World Cup for Argentina, with 13 goals in 26 matches.

    Argentinian star striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who has appeared in five different World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022), scored 7 goals in the 2022 tournament, bringing his total to 13 goals.

    Messi, who has one World Cup title with Argentina, will try to lift the trophy for the second time in 2026.

    Cristiano Ronaldo

    Portuguese star striker Cristiano Ronaldo has been preparing to play in the 2026 World Cup for the sixth time as his country has secured its place in the tournament.

    The 41-year-old star footballer will have played in six different World Cups in the tournament’s history.

    Ronaldo, who aims to surpass the 1,000-goal mark in his career, is also aiming to continue scoring goals in this tournament.

    The star footballer has scored 8 goals in 22 matches across five FIFA World Cups during his career.

    Ronaldo holds the title of being the first footballer to score in five different World Cups, having scored in every tournament played from 2006 to 2022.

    The star footballer, who has not yet experienced the joy of winning the World Cup with Portugal, will be fighting for his first champions title in 2026.

  • Miami’s Messi Wins Second Consecutive MLS MVP Award

    Miami’s Messi Wins Second Consecutive MLS MVP Award

    Lionel Messi won his second consecutive Major League Soccer Most Valuable Player award on Tuesday after propelling Inter Miami to the MLS title and leading the league in goals.

    Messi became the first player to win back-to-back MLS MVP awards and only the second player in the league to capture two MVP awards after Preki in 1997 and 2003.

    “I’m happy to receive this award and be the first in the history of this league to win it in two consecutive years,” Messi said. “I’m very thankful.”

    The 38-year-old forward, who led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup crown, scored 29 goals in the regular season — the fourth-most in any MLS campaign — and set up 19 others to claim the MLS Golden Boot.

    “I’m thankful for this recognition,” Messi said. “It’s always nice to receive individual awards but I want to share it with my teammates. I was also fortunate to win the MLS Golden Boot thanks to the help of my teammates.”

    Messi, who signed a three-year contract extension with Miami in October, also became only the second player to lead the league in regular-season goals and assists, joining Toronto’s Sebastian Giovinco in 2015.

    Messi also netted six goals and created nine others in this year’s MLS playoffs, which concluded last weekend with Inter Miami beating Vancouver 3-1 for its first MLS Cup title, Messi delivering two key assists in the triumph to claim MLS Cup MVP honors.

    It’s the latest award in a trophy haul for the South American maestro that includes a record eight Ballon d’Or titles, three FIFA Men’s Best Player awards and two FIFA World Cup Golden Balls.

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    Messi was a runaway season MVP award winner with 70.43 per cent of total voting compared to 11.15 per cent for runner-up Anders Dreyer of San Diego FC. Messi took 83.05 per cent of media votes, 73.08 per cent of club votes and 55.17 per cent of player votes.

    He became the first MLS player with 10 multi-goal games in a season, breaking the old mark of eight shared by Stern John in 1998, Mamadou Diallo in 2000 and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2019.

    In 2024, Messi won the MLS MVP award with 20 goals and 16 assists over 19 matches.

    Messi joined Inter Miami in July 2023 and helped the Herons hoist the Leagues Cup, a tournament for MLS and Mexican League clubs, that year and take the 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield with a league-best 74 points in the regular season.

  • Dembele Beats Yamal To Ballon d’Or As Bonmati Retains Women’s Award

    Dembele Beats Yamal To Ballon d’Or As Bonmati Retains Women’s Award

    Paris Saint-Germain winger Ousmane Dembele won the Ballon d’Or on Monday as a reward for his starring role in the club’s Champions League triumph last season, while Spain’s Aitana Bonmati claimed the women’s prize for the third year in a row.

    Dembele, 28, edged out Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal to succeed Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri, who took the trophy in 2024, as the winner of the most prestigious individual prize in football — an award that for many years had been dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

    Former Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona forward Dembele, who was part of the France team that won the World Cup in 2018, scored 35 goals in all competitions as PSG claimed a French league and cup double as well as winning the Champions League.

    With Dembele converted into a centre-forward following Kylian Mbappe’s departure for Real Madrid, PSG went on to hammer Inter Milan 5-0 in the final in Munich to win the European Cup for the first time in their history.

    “I really don’t have the words. It was an incredible season with PSG,” an emotional Dembele said on the stage at the Theatre du Chatelet in central Paris.

    He added that his boss Luis Enrique — who won the award for club coach of the year — had been “like a father” to him.

    “It is an individual trophy but it was really the collective that won it,” insisted Dembele, who was one of nine members of the triumphant PSG team from last season to be nominated for the prize.

    “The Ballon d’Or has not really been an objective for me in my career but I worked hard for the team to win the Champions League.”

    Ousmane Dembele and Aitana Bonmati won the men's and women's Ballon d'Or awards
    Ousmane Dembele and Aitana Bonmati won the men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or awards

    The 18-year-old Yamal, who was a teammate of Dembele’s at Barcelona when he first broke through in 2023, did earlier win the Kopa Trophy for the best player aged under 21 — the second year running he has taken that award.

    Dembele was at the ceremony to pick up his prize while his PSG teammates were losing 1-0 in a Ligue 1 game in Marseille at the same time — that match had been scheduled for Sunday but was put back 24 hours due to bad weather in the south of France.

    Three in a row

    Barcelona and Spain midfielder Bonmati won the women’s prize by edging out her international teammate Mariona Caldentey, with whom she played in the Spain side who were beaten on penalties by England in the Women’s Euro 2025 final.

    Bonmati, 27, also lost the Women’s Champions League final with her club last season, at the hands of Caldentey’s Arsenal.

    Bonmati was named player of the tournament at the Euros, despite not starting either of Spain’s first two matches as she recovered from a bout of viral meningitis.

    “I am very proud,” said Bonmati, who credited her teammates for their role in her personal triumph.

    “I think I am here for the third consecutive time because of the teams I play in, so all of this is because of them.”

    Alessia Russo, one of the nominees from the triumphant England European Championship team and also of Arsenal, came third.

    Bonmati’s run of three in a row follows back-to-back victories for her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas.

    Norway’s Ada Hegerberg and USA star Megan Rapinoe are the only other players to have won the Women’s Ballon d’Or since it was introduced in 2018.

    The Ballon d’Or is voted for by a panel of journalists, one from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA world rankings for the men, and from the top 50 for the women.

    Vicky Lopez, the 19-year-old forward who is a teammate of Bonmati’s with Barcelona and Spain, was named best young women’s player.

    Gianluigi Donnarumma, who excelled in the PSG team that swept all aside last season before moving to Manchester City, claimed the Yashin trophy for best goalkeeper.

    England’s Euro winner Hannah Hampton claimed the best women’s goalkeeper award, while her international manager Sarina Wiegman was named best women’s coach.

    (AFP)

  • Lionel Messi In Tears As He Confirms Barcelona Departure And Makes His Next Move

    Lionel Messi In Tears As He Confirms Barcelona Departure And Makes His Next Move

    Lionel Messi is expected to arrive in Paris on Monday, lured by the limitless funds of PSG, having said a tearful farewell to Barcelona after 21 years.

    The 34-year-old, seen by the French giants’ Qatari owners as the vital missing piece of their frustrating Champions League puzzle, has already had fans playing a guessing game.

    On Sunday night, dozens of PSG diehards gathered at the gates of Le Bourget airport to the north of the capital in the hope of catching a glimpse of their newest ‘galactico’.

    However, their wait was in vain.

    Stressing no deals had been done, Messi did concede at his tearful farewell news conference in Barcelona earlier Sunday that joining PSG was a “possibility”.

    In reality, they are the only club who can afford what is expected to be a deal worth 35 million euros a year for the 34-year-old Argentine.

    “I gave everything for Barcelona from the first day that I arrived right to the last. I never imagined having to say goodbye,” Messi told the news conference.

    “I have still not come to terms with the reality of leaving this club now — I love this club,” added a suited Messi, who several times wiped away tears before a squadron of reporters at the club’s Camp Nou ground who gave him a standing ovation.

    Messi, widely considered the most gifted player in the history of the game, won 35 trophies at Barcelona who he joined as a 13-year-old — including four Champions Leagues and 10 league titles while his 672 goals are a record for any of the top five European leagues.

    – ‘Great for Ligue 1’ –

    Despite offering to cut his salary by half to seal a new five-year deal which a club carrying debts of 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion) and player had agreed on, the agreement foundered on strict Spanish League salary restrictions.

    Some in France’s Ligue 1 have mixed feelings about the impending arrival of Messi who will form a superstar attacking force alongside Kylian Mbappe and Neymar who earns a reported 36 million euros a year and is a former Barcelona teammate of the Argentine.

    “It’s extraordinary for Ligue 1,” said Metz coach Frederic Antonetti.

    “But for a purist like me, Messi should have finished his career at Barcelona.”

    This summer PSG have already added veteran Spanish defender Sergio Ramos from Real Madrid, where he won four Champions League crowns, as Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

    Messi is a free agent. Ramos also arrived on a free transfer.

    A move to the Parc des Princes would mean a reunion with his Argentina international colleague Angel di Maria.

    An added attraction is that coach Mauricio Pochettino, like Messi, started his career at Newell’s Old Boys in Rosario, Argentina.

    Pochettino has been giving nothing away on the arrival of Messi.

    “There have been lots of rumours. Lots of things are being said,” he said as PSG laboured to a 2-1 win over Troyes in their opening game of the new league season.

    Jorge Sampaoli, the coach of PSG’s bitter rivals Marseille, said the arrival of Messi can only be good news for French football.

    “It would be great for Ligue 1, he’s the best player in the world,” said Sampaoli.

    “French football has won a lot and grown a lot in recent seasons.

    “Even if he goes to a club other than Marseille, it will be good. Everyone would be riveted on the championship. It will be an additional motivation for us to play against him.”

    Meanwhile, in an indication that Barcelona are keen to move swiftly on, they defeated Juventus 3-0 on Sunday night in a pre-season friendly.

  • Confirmed: Lionel Messi To Leave Barcelona

    Confirmed: Lionel Messi To Leave Barcelona

    FC Barcelona says Lionel Messi “shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona” adding that “both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled”

    “Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles (Spanish Liga regulations).

    As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled.

    FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandisement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life.“ Reads the official statement from FC Barcelona.

    The stunning move marks the end of an era for the soccer legend, who has spent his entire career at Barcelona, notching over a dozen combined La Liga and Champions League titles and winning the Ballon d’Or award as Europe’s top player six times.