FIFA The Best Awards: Lionel Messi and the list of winners of the contest in Milan, Italy [PHOTOS]

Argentine Lionel Messi, forward for Barcelona, won on Monday in Milan the FIFA "The Best" award for the best player of the past season, after winning the Spanish League and scoring 51 goals in 50 matches.

Messi triumphed ahead of Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, from Juventus, and Dutch defender Virgil Van Dijk, from Liverpool, in a gala held at the historic La Scala theater in Milan.

The Argentine received his first "The Best" award from FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and succeeded Real Madrid's Croatian Luka Modric, who had won in 2018.

"First of all, I want to thank everyone who decided that this recognition is for me. The truth is that I always think about how beautiful these awards are, even though for me individual awards are secondary, collective ones come first," Messi said after receiving the award.

The Argentine also expressed his joy at sharing this moment with his family, with his wife Antonella Roccuzzo and two of their three children.

Number 10 of Barcelona was one of the most applauded, at a gala that was not attended for the second consecutive year by Cristiano Ronaldo, who suffered a groin injury preventing him from playing Juventus' league match against Brescia scheduled for this Tuesday.

Jurgen Klopp - Best Coach in the World
Marcelo Bielsa - Fair Play Award
Daniel Zsori - Puskas Award
Jill Ellis - Best Women's Football Coach
Alisson Becker - Best Goalkeeper in the World
Lionel Messi - Best Footballer in the World

With Mateo in his arms, Lionel Messi arrived in the city for the The Best Awards. The Argentine forward is one of the candidates, although Virgil Van Dijk is a favorite.

Likewise, Cristiano Ronaldo will not attend the ceremony. The Portuguese forward has stated that he has an injury, so he will not be able to attend the ceremony. He will also not play against Brescia.

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• Peru 1:00 p.m. | DirecTV Sports
• Ecuador 1:00 p.m. | DirecTV Sports
• Colombia 1:00 p.m. | DirecTV Sports
• Mexico 1:00 p.m. | DirecTV Sports
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• Italy 10:00 p.m. | Sky Sports

Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus, Lionel Messi from Barcelona, and Virgil Van Dijk from Liverpool will compete on Monday for the FIFA The Best 2019 award for the best player of the year, in a gala that will be held for the first time at the historic La Scala Theater in Milan.

The Dutchman, who won Liverpool's sixth Champions League in history and who was already awarded by UEFA in August as the best player of the year, appears as the main favorite to succeed the Croatian Luka Modric, who was The Best in the last season.

Van Dijk arrives in Milan after establishing himself as one of the best defenders in the world and can make history by becoming the first defender to win this award, which reaches its fourth edition and has so far seen Cristiano Ronaldo (2016 and 2017) and Modric (2018) triumph.

He will compete against 'CR7' himself, who ended his first season with Juventus by winning Serie A and the Supercoppa and scoring 28 goals, although he will arrive for the first time at the FIFA gala without the title of European champion in his pocket.

The third candidate is Lionel Messi, who had an astonishing year personally, in which he scored 51 goals in 50 matches, and in which he won his tenth La Liga title of his career.

However, the campaign of the Barcelona player was marred by the elimination in the semifinals against Liverpool (Champions League), including a crushing comeback.

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