The ceremony takes place in Paris, and Messi appears as the favourite to add another individual gong to his collection after leading Argentina to glory over Mbappe's France in that epic encounter in Qatar.

Sporting greats Lionel Messi and Rafael Nadal on Instagram backed each other on to win the 2023 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award.

"I don't think so, the conditions aren't right," Jorge Messi told reporters at Barcelona airport.

Messi played the full 90 minutes of PSG's 2-1 defeat by Olympique Marseille in the French Cup on Wednesday and the 35-year-old is in a race against time to be fit for their Champions League last-16 clash with Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

Bayern Munich visit the French capital for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie next Tuesday, but there will be no easy build-up to that game for PSG.

Paris Saint-Germain's football advisor Luis Campos says he will be "delighted" if Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi agrees to extend his contract with the French champions.

Lionel Messi and the Argentina team are massively popular in Bangladesh, something which got widespread coverage during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last year.

Paris St Germain head coach Christophe Galtier said injuries sustained by Sergio Ramos and Kylian Mbappe in their 3-1 win at Montpellier on Wednesday were not serious and that they were taken off to manage their workload during a busy schedule.

South America's top national team competition, the Copa America, will be held in the United States in 2024 and feature 10 teams from South America's CONMEBOL and six teams from the CONCACAF region.

Lionel Messi has surpassed Diego Maradona as the greatest player of all time, Argentina's World Cup winning coach Lionel Scaloni has said.

Argentina featured heavily in shortlists for FIFA's Best awards following their World Cup triumph, with forwards Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and coach Lionel Scaloni receiving nominations in their categories.

Lionel Messi made his first appearance for Paris Saint-Germain since winning the World Cup with Argentina and scored in a 2-0 victory against Angers in Ligue 1 on Wednesday.

Lionel Messi is expected to make his first appearance for Paris Saint-Germain since his World Cup triumph in a Ligue 1 clash at home against Angers on Wednesday, as the Qatar-owned club look to tie the Argentine down to a new contract.

Lionel Messi will be rested for Paris St Germain's French Cup game at third division side Chateauroux as the Argentine forward needs more time to recover from his world Cup winning campaign, coach Christophe Galtier said on Thursday.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi finally left for Paris in a private jet late on Monday after an extended period celebrating last month's World Cup victory in his home town of Rosario.

Lionel Messi signed off for 2022 by hailing the year when he won the World Cup as one he "will never be able to forget".

Argentina's World Cup-winning captain Lionel Messi bid Brazilian football hero Pele farewell on Instagram Thursday, posting photos of himself and "The King" taken in happier times.

Normal service is set to resume in France on Wednesday with Kylian Mbappe and Neymar both set to feature for leaders Paris Saint-German as they restart their Ligue 1 season, 45 days after it was popped on ice for the World Cup, with a home game against struggling Strasbourg.

Jurgen Klopp has hailed Lionel Messi as 'the greatest player of his lifetime' and explained why he was happy to see Argentina winning the World Cup.

Lionel Messi has gone one better again. Having broken the record for the most-liked post on Instagram, the World Cup-winning Argentine's celebratory post has proven so popular that it is now the most-liked social media post of all-time, across any social networking platform.