The Golden Foot: The award so tough to win that Lionel Messi still hasn’t won
Over the years, Lionel Messi has won pretty much everything he possibly could in football. From the World Cup to league titles to countless Ballon d’Ors, there are few accolades and awards that he hasn’t managed to get his hands on. There is one certain award, though, that even the great Argentine hasn’t quite picked up just yet.
That’s right, despite having one of the greatest careers of all time, there is one accolade that he hasn’t realised just yet and as he gets older, he could very well run out of time. What award is it, though? Well, that’s what we’re here to tell you. Won by some of football’s biggest stars, Messi has never won the Golden Foot, an award created in the early 2000s.
Not that familiar with it? Don’t worry, we’re about to tell you everything you need to know about the Golden Foot and why it’s quite shocking that Messi has never actually won it during his career.
The Golden Foot celebrates older footballers
It can only be awarded to footballers over the age of 28
There has been a lot of focus over the years on the younger talents within football. Awards aimed at the young prospects showing plenty of promise have become a common sight pretty much all over the world. There has been a large focus on the next generation and just how impressive they are at a young age.
There isn’t enough talk about the older heads, though, or appreciation for how certain footballers continue competing at a very high level, well into the twilight of their careers. Well, that’s what you’d think, but it turns out, there is actually an award specifically catered to those veterans.
The Golden Foot is an award that was created in 2003 and was launched to recognise the impressive older figures in football who are still performing at a high level later in their careers. Only footballers over the age of 28 are eligible for the award, with the majority of winners actually being stars in their 30s.
The list of names to win the award is very impressive
Some of football’s biggest names have won it
One of the best ways to judge how prestigious an award is is to look at the figures to have won it since its creation and the Golden Foot has a real who’s who of former winners, with some of the biggest names in football taking it home at one point or another. The very first man to win the award was Roberto Baggio in 2003. The Italian was 36 years old at the time but was coming off a season where he scored 12 goals for Brescia in Serie A. He perfectly represented the type of recognition that the award aimed to give and the certain figure that would be highlighted from it.
From there, names like Pavel Nedved, Ronaldinho, Ryan Giggs, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo and, most recently, Robert Lewandowski won the award. Interestingly, no Englishman has ever won the award, but two Premier League stars have with Giggs picking it up in 2011, while Mohamed Salah won it in 2021.
Juventus have the most winners, with four of the Old Lady’s stars doing so during their time with the Italian club. Nedved, Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon and Ronaldo all received the award as Juventus players. Buffon is actually the oldest-ever winner, with the former goalkeeper being 38 years old when he did so. Take a look at the complete list of winners below. It’s quite a star-studded list, but you might notice there have been no repeat recipients.
No one is allowed to win the Golden Foot more than once
The rule allows a variety of stars to win the award
Over the years, no one has ever won the award more than once and that is down to a rule that was implemented when it was first created back in the early 2000s. There would be no repeat winners with anyone who received the award never being eligible again. This was likely done to allow a variety of stars to pick up the accolade, rather than it being dominated by a select few figures.
It’s hard to imagine stars like Ronaldo and Messi wouldn’t have dominated the award over the last few years if they were able to win it on multiple occasions. Considering how fantastic the former has been for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, he’d likely be a shoo-in for it on multiple occasions if he could, but having earned it in 2020 with Juventus, he’ll never win it again.
There are still plenty of incredible players over 28 years old who deserve a chance to win the award, with stars like Kevin De Bruyne, Messi himself and Harry Kane all still performing at an exceptional level.
The award is decided by a panel of voters
A group of international journalists pick a winner from a list of nominees
To ensure the winner of the Golden Foot is decided as fairly as possible, the result is decided based on a vote between a large group of international journalists. This ensured there was no bias in the decision, with the group all having their own opinions and coming to a collective agreement.
The journalists selected a winner from a list of 10 nominees that were selected earlier in the process. How those players are picked, we’re not quite sure, but they all have to meet the criteria that they’re at least 28 years old, have never won the award and are still currently playing football. As far as a voting process goes, this is about as fair as it gets if you ask us
The winner receives a very special honour
They leave a mould of their footprints in Monaco
Rather than just being handed your standard trophy, as you’d expect with most other awards, the winner of the Golden Foot is giving something very different. Instead, they get to leave a permanent mould of their footprints on The Champions Promenade, an area on the seafront of Monaco.
It’s a similar tribute to how major movie stars are awarded a spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where they receive a star alongside their name that is permanently placed on the ground on Hollywood Boulevard. Of course, the Golden Foot isn’t quite as prestigious as the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but it’s a similar concept.
Messi has never won the award
He’s still got time
The list of footballers to win the Golden Foot is quite an impressive group of stars, but arguably the greatest player to ever step onto a pitch is yet to do so. Messi, who many consider the greatest of all time, has somehow not received the honour yet, despite some incredible performances over the last eight years.
His performances for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain should have been enough to earn him the award at one time or another, but he’s been overlooked for the likes of Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and Luka Modric. He’s 36 years old now but has still shown over the past few years, and especially during the 2022 World Cup, that he’s still one of the best footballers on the planet.
Now at Inter Miami, there’s a very strong chance that Messi will win the Golden Foot over the next couple of years as he helps transform football’s popularity in the United States at Inter Miami. If he doesn’t, then it will go down as one of the only awards in football to have alluded him.
