Paris – Lionel Messi quickly put on the glittering jacket, then he laughed at the world footballer’s trophy like he did at the World Cup two months earlier. Not super striker Kylian Mbappe, not Champions League winner Karim Benzema – Messi is once more the best player in the world. Argentina’s national hero outperformed his well-known competitors in the prestigious election and received the award for the seventh time.