Lionel Messi thinks there are two managers better than Mikel Arteta at Arsenal

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Lionel Messi voted Mikel Arteta as the third-best manager in the world at the FIFA Best Awards 2025 on Tuesday evening.

Arteta has enjoyed another strong year in charge of Arsenal, helping the Gunners to finish second in the Premier League and reach the Champions League semi-finals.

In 2026, the Spanish coach will be hoping to finally add to his FA Cup triumph from 2020 with one of the two major titles.

Order these coaches from best to worst: Mikel Arteta, Hansi Flick and Luis Enrique…

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But following a successful year, Messi has noted the Arsenal boss’s achievements by picking him third at the FIFA The Best Coach award.

Lionel Messi picks Luis Enrique and Hansi Flick over Mikel Arteta

Lionel Messi picked Luis Enrique and Hansi Flick ahead of Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta at the FIFA Best Awards 2025 ceremony, according to Fifa.com.

Enrique ended up winning the award, which is quite fair enough given his remarkable achievements with Paris Saint-Germain.

The European champions defeated the Gunners twice last season, going on to thrash Inter Milan 5-1 in the Champions League final.

Other contenders for the award were Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso, Enzo Maresca from Chelsea and Liverpool’s Arne Slot.

Currently, it’s unclear where everyone else finished, but Messi, captain of Argentina, voted for Enrique, Flick and then Arteta.

Next year, Arteta will surely fancy his chances of clinching the award with his team flying in both the Premier League and the Champions League.

Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Magalhaes miss out on The Best FIFA Men’s 11

Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Magalhaes all missed out on being named in The Best FIFA Men’s 11.

Which Arsenal players should have made The Best FIFA Men’s 11… 🤔

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All three Arsenal stars were the standout players from Arteta’s team across 2025 and would have felt they stood a chance of making the team.

Saka should have been named ahead of Cole Palmer, Rice ahead of Jude Bellingham or Pedri; meanwhile, Virgil van Dijk and William Pacho are both worthy of their spots ahead of Gabriel.

Although Rice and Gabriel are going to surely be two strong contenders to be named in the team next year, given their current status in world football.