A group of Argentine journalists don't even rate Messi as the best sportsman in their country. Or second best for that matter.
No, it was third place for the Barcelona superstar who finished behind boxer Sergio Martinez and taekwondo fighter Sebastian Crismanich as "Sporting Athlete Of The Year".
Messi's incredible record breaking goal haul - he has 90 so far this year - wasn't enough to put him ahead of the competition.
Martinez won the Olimpia de Oro after beating Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in their WBC title fight earlier this year. He will fight British boxer Martin Murray in April 2013.
MESSI STRIPPED OF RECORD?
It is one thing to see a world record taken away because it was beaten ... but what about when you never had it in the first place?
It happened to Bryan Robson when he scored for England against France, which was thought to be the quickest World Cup goal ever.
He was given a gold watch by FIFA ... but the record was taken away when someone unearthed a film clip of Itay v Chile in 1962, and timed the opening goal.
What a bugger - eh?
And Lionel Messi may feel the same way, because he may have his goal-scoring record stripped from him just days after breaking it.
The Zambian Football Association have said they will provide evidence to FIFA that Kabwe Warriors striker Godfrey Chitalu scored 107 goals in 1972.
Messi’s two goals at Real Betis on Sunday overtook Gerd Muller’s official 40-year-old record of 85 for a calendar year.
Messi then took his tally to 88 with two against Cordoba last night but a Zambian spokesman said: “We have this record. We have commissioned an independent team locally to go back into the archives and record minute by minute each of those goals.
“We will then send that to CAF [Confederation of African Football] and FIFA so that we can show that, while Messi’s record is there, while Muller’s record is there, the actual record holder in terms of goals per calendar year is an African. It’s actually Godfrey Chitalu.”