Lionel Messi beaten to 2018 World's Best Playmaker title

What's the story?

After losing out on the coveted Ballon d'Or title this year, Barcelona's Lionel Messi has now been beaten to the 2018 World's Best Playmaker title.

In case you didn't know...

Argentine talisman Messi shockingly missed out on the Ballon d'Or top three rankings this Monday despite having played a pivotal role in Barcelona's La Liga title and the Copa del Rey win at the end of last season.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner raked in 40 goals and provided 14 assists for the Catalan giants in La Liga and the Champions League last season.

Messi, together with Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo have been snubbed from a number of individual prizes this year, with Croatia and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric taking all the awards.

The heart of the matter

It looks like Messi has missed out on yet another title this year as the International Federation of Football History and Statistics have released their list of rankings for the World's Best Playmaker award.

Despite having already registered 15 goals and eight assists this season, Messi was beaten to award by none other than Luka Modric.

The Argentine stands far behind at second place with 144 points compared to Modric's 272. Messi had previously won the award three consecutive times in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The award has been presented to some of the best in football like Zinedine Zidane, Xavi and Iniesta.

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo finished in tenth place on the rankings with a meagre five points. The rest of the top ten features Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne, Neymar, Paul Pogba, Christian Eriksen, Miralem Pjanic and James Rodriguez.

The winner of the award is voted for by football experts across 90 countries in all continents.

What's next?

Messi's focus will be on Barcelona's La Liga game against Espanyol on Sunday.