Beckham Tips Messi for 2026 Ballon d’Or After Historic 100th Inter Miami Goal

Photo Credit: Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi (L) poses with co-owner David Beckham (R) after winning the MLS Cup final on December 6, 2025. Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP
Beckham Tips Messi for 2026 Ballon d’Or After Historic 100th Inter Miami Goal
Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham says Lionel Messi deserves to win the 2026 Ballon d’Or and should claim a record-extending ninth title.

Beckham made the comment less than 24 hours after Messi became the first player to score 100 goals for Inter Miami. The Argentine reached the milestone on Wednesday, scoring in Miami’s 2-0 win over Cruz Azul in the Campeones Cup final, before assisting the second goal from a corner kick for Casemiro.

The victory secured Inter Miami’s first-ever Campeones Cup title.

Speaking after the match, the former England captain praised Messi’s longevity and impact at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where he scored eight goals and provided four assists to lead Argentina to the final, where they lost to Spain.

“When you see him do things like this tonight, when you see him have the World Cup that he’s had, there is no one at 39 that’s doing that, and doing it at that level,” Beckham said, as quoted by BBC.

“He deserves to be considered for the Ballon d’Or. In my opinion, he should win it.”

Messi, 39, is among the 30 players nominated for this year’s award. He has previously won the Ballon d’Or eight times. Other top contenders include Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham.

During the 2026 World Cup, Messi also extended his all-time World Cup assist record to 12, with 10 coming in knockout-stage matches. He now sits second on the all-time World Cup goalscorers list with 21 goals, just behind Kylian Mbappe with 22.

The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony is scheduled to hold on October 26 in London.

Source: Punch Newspapers –