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He had won this very award from FIFA four straight times (2009–12), and entered the 2014 World Cup in Brazil determined to demonstrate his greatness. Messi wasted no time, scoring the winning goal in Argentina’s opening match of the World Cup against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also scored the only goal of the following match, a 1–0 win over Iran. Messi added two more goals in a 3–2 win to close out the group stage against Nigeria.

Messi has been voted as FIFA’s top player in the world five times

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