On July 22, local time, the Argentine Football Association officially published an article responding to Messi not receiving the FIFA World Cup Best Player award.

The AFA's official website wrote: Messi once again demonstrated his enduring strength on the world's highest football stage. Despite being 39 years old, he still contributed an excellent performance of 8 goals and 4 assists, and, as the core force, led Scaloni's team throughout the entire campaign. The Argentine captain was also involved in one of the major controversies of this FIFA World Cup: despite playing a decisive role in Argentina's journey, he was not named the tournament's best player.

The original text from the AFA's official website is as follows

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