Lionel Messi admits he is not thinking about his long-term future after winning a record eighth Ballon d’Or award.

Messi, 36, took over the award from Karim Benzema because of how well he played last season and how he led Argentina to victory at the World Cup in Qatar.

“The last one I won was also thanks to what we achieved with the Argentine national team in the Copa America (in 2021), but this one is much more special because it comes after we won the World Cup,” Messi told various media including AFP after collecting his award at a ceremony in Paris.

“That is the trophy everyone wants to win the most, and it was a dream come true for me, my teammates and my country.”

It was the highlight of his amazing career when he led Argentina to victory in Qatar. It also helped him beat Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to win the Ballon d’Or.

Haaland came in second, Mbappe came in third, and Kevin De Bruyne came in fourth.

After Argentina beat France on penalties in the World Cup final in Doha, Messi was named the tournament’s best player. He scored seven goals in the tournament.

Even though Messi won his first Ballon d’Or in 2009, his last season at Paris Saint-Germain wasn’t great either. He left to play for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.

Some people thought he might try for another Ballon d’Or, maybe after the next World Cup in 2026, when he will be 39 years old.

“I am not thinking about the long-term future. I am just enjoying the day to day at the moment,” he said.

“We have a Copa America coming up in the United States, where I am now, in which we are the holders, so I am looking forward to coming into that in good shape and then just see how I am getting on from there.”

Messi said when he got back to Paris that his two years at PSG had not gone the way he had hoped when he signed there from Barcelona in 2021.

“Things didn’t turn out as I hoped but I enjoyed the city a lot, and my kids liked it a lot and found it hard to leave,” he said.

“It is a spectacular city and I was lucky to live here. Football-wise it did not go the way I hoped but I prefer to remember the many good things.”

Photo by EPA/MOHAMMED BADRA