Lionel Messi will be rubbing his hands together as awards season approaches.

Although the Argentine star has made a slow start to life at Paris Saint-Germain, there's no denying that he ranked amongst the world's best players with his stunning performances across 2021.

From finishing his Barcelona career with a flurry of goal contributions to guiding Argentina to Copa America glory, Messi is rightfully considered as favourite for many of the top annual prizes.

FIFA's 'The Best' awards

The Ballon d'Or is arguably the most famous of these individual accolades with Messi due to compete with Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho to be crowned the world's best player this year.

However, regardless of the direction in which the France Football pendulum swings, everyone will have a second chance when it comes to 'The Best FIFA Football Awards'.

It doesn't appear as though a final date has been agreed for this year's ceremony, but we can only presume that football's global governing body will continue to roll out its premier prize giving.

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FIFA's winners since 2017

The ceremony has been running under its current name since 2017 with Cristiano Ronaldo having won the prize twice, while Messi, Luka Modric and Lewandowski have a single gong to their name.

However, can Messi draw level with his eternal rival by winning this year? Ultimately, only time will tell, but we have a sneaky suspicion of how that might play out if he is indeed given the nod.

That's because a viral video has once again been doing the rounds showing the difference between the reception Messi was given upon winning FIFA's 'The Best' award compared to other victors.

Difference between Messi and other winners

The clip, which has attracted thousands of retweets and 'likes', shows Ronaldo and Modric being respectfully applauded by the audience as they make their way to the stage to take the trophy.

But when it cuts to Messi being handed the prize at the 2019 ceremony, watch as pretty much the entire audience - including ex-Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho - gives a standing ovation.

Don't just take our word for it, though, because you can check out the brilliant footage right here:

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A standing ovation for Messi

You really can sense the rousing respect and admiration when Messi was announced as the winner and maybe, just maybe, that goes to show an added level of adoration for the Barcelona icon.

Ok, maybe that's inferring a little too much and it goes without saying that poor Lewandowski was destined never to get the same reception when his prize giving took place during the pandemic.

Nevertheless, it couldn't have been clearer that Messi's latest victory made a real impact on people and we wouldn't be surprised to see everyone on their feet again if he repeated the feat in 2021.

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