Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has been crowned the inaugural winner of the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or award.

The World Cup-winning Spain international won the award ahead of Barcelona and national teammates Xavi and Andres Iniesta at a gala ceremony in Zurich on Monday night.

The award was created after the merger of France Football magazine's European Footballer of the Year award with the FIFA World Player of the Year prize.

Messi scored an outstanding 60 goals in 2010 and was voted in for the award by journalists from around the world and coaches and captains of national teams.

The 23-year old was the holder of both the European Football of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year awards before winning the combine.

In other award news, Jose Mourinho was named Coach of the Year whilst Brazilian star Marta won a fifth Women's Player of the Year prize.

Award list in full:Men's Player of the Year:Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina). Women's Player of the Year: Marta (FC Gold Pride, Santos and Brazil). Men's Coach of the Year:Jose Mourinho (Inter Milan and Real Madrid). Women's Coach of the Year: Silvia Neid (Germany). World XI:Iker Casillas (Real Madrid and Spain); Maicon (Inter Milan and Brazil), Gerard Pique (Barcelona and Spain), Lucio (Inter Milan and Brazil), Carles Puyol (Barcelona and Spain); Andres Iniesta (Barcelona and Spain), Xavi (Barcelona and Spain), Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan and Holland); Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal), David Villa (Barcelona and Spain), Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina). Puskas Award (Goal of the Year):Hamit Altintop (Kazakhstan v TURKEY). Fair Play Award: Haiti Women Under-17s.