LIONEL MESSI last night became the inaugural winner of the FIFA Ballon d’Or at an award ceremony in Zurich.

Argentina star Messi was selected ahead of Barcelona team-mates Xavi and Andres Iniesta, who both won the World Cup with Spain last summer.

Messi, 23, scored an astonishing 60 goals for club and country in 2010 and is regarded by many as the most gifted player of his generation.

The FIFA Ballon d’Or was created following the merger of France Football magazine’s Footballer of the Year prize with the FIFA World Player of the Year gong.

As such, it is awarded based on votes cast by journalists from around the world, as well as coaches and captains of national teams.

Messi became the first player to be awarded the prize in a World Cup year without having won the tournament since 1994, when non- Europeans were ineligible.

Jose Mourinho was named Coach of the Year ahead of World Cup-winning Spain boss Vicente del Bosque and Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola for leading Inter Milan to an unprecedented Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia treble.

There was disappointment for Glentoran’s Matty Burrows in the Goal of the Year prize, with his jaw-dropping backheeled volley against Portadown losing out to Hamit Altintop’s relatively mundane volley for Turkey against Kazakhstan.