Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho has won the FIFA Puskas Award 2024 for his incredible overhead kick goal against Everton. The Argentine joins a prestigious list of winners over the years. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been nominated several times, but have they ever won it?
Ronaldo actually was the first-ever winner of the Puskas Awards in 2009 for his goal against Porto during the UEFA Champions League 2008-09, beating Andres Iniesta’s goal against Chelsea in the same competition (which ended up second).
Meanwhile, Messi has never won the award despite being the player with the most nominations ever. He has been nominated a total of seven times (in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019), and he has been placed second in three occasions (2011, 2015, and 2019). Ronaldo, on the other hand, has been nominated twice.
So, in that sense, Garnacho is the second Argentine to have ever won the award, only behind Erik Lamela, who received the honor in 2021. Brazil is the country with more wins (three): Neymar (2011), Wendell Lira (2015) and Guilherme Madruga (2023).
This year, Garnacho became the 16th player to win the award. “It was a great goal, of course. But there is a lot more to come, and a lot more to look forward to. Thank you for all the support,” Garnacho said in a video shared during the ceremony.
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Messi and Ronaldo also missed a place in the FIFPro Best XI
This year, Messi and Ronaldo didn’t make the cut for the FIFPro Men’s World XI for 2024. Both players had been nominated, marking 18 nominations for the Argentine and 16 for the Portuguese, extending their historic records.
Ronaldo’s last inclusion in the lineup was in 2021. This is also the first time since 2006 that Messi has missed out, ending his impressive 17-year streak. Despite this, Messi still holds the record with 17, while Ronaldo has been chosen 15 times.
