Revealed: Lionel Messi receives his LOWEST rating in 16 years for EA Sports FC 25, with Virgil van Dijk, Martin Odegaard and Harry Kane all ranked above the all-time best

Lionel Messi has received his lowest rating in 16 years in the latest edition of the FIFA series (now EA Sports FC), despite 15 players in the game being ranked above him.

The new installment in the hit series will be released later this month, in the second year after a drastic overhaul of its appearance, as EA Sports ended its partnership with FIFA and removed the governing body's name from the title.

However, players can still buy and sell virtual cards of the best footballers in the world, and Messi will certainly continue to be one of the most eagerly awaited cards.

But now, for the second year in a row, the developer has officially announced that the superstar, who currently plays for Inter Miami in the MLS, has received another downgrade.

In fact, Messi's rating is now 88, which is the first time since FIFA 08 that he has dropped below the 90 mark. Instead, players like Virgil van Dijk, Martin Odegaard and Harry Kane were surprisingly all ranked above him.

Virgil van Dijk is one of several players who rank above the all-time best this year

Liverpool defender Van Dijk and Arsenal captain Odegaard are both rated 89, one more than Messi, while Bayern Munich ace Kane has a 90.

The highest rated players in the game are Kylian Mbappe, Rodri and Erling Haaland – the trio has an impressive 91 points.

Several others narrowly missed out on this award. Jude Bellingham, the cover star of EA Sports FC 25, Vinicius Junior and Kevin De Bruyne were all rated 90.

Also ranked above Messi this year are Alisson, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Thibaut Courtois, Lautaro Martinez, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Mohamed Salah.

The 37-year-old Messi is on a par with the likes of Phil Foden, Antoine Griezmann, Ruben Dias and Robert Lewandowski, illustrating his gradual decline in performance.

He was first added to FIFA in 2005 after his explosive breakthrough at Barcelona and has since had a number of the best cards in the game's history.

Jude Bellingham is the cover star of the latest installment in the popular video game series

Harry Kane was rated 90 after a brilliant season with Bayern Munich and England

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was rated 89, making him one of the top 20 players

He made his debut in FIFA 06 with a modest 78-rated card, but he quickly jumped up to a rating of 84 for the next installment in the franchise.

He had a rating of 90 in FIFA 09 and reached a notable high of 94 before falling back down, culminating in the card that will soon be available to players in the new edition.

By the way, Cristiano Ronaldo, who normally competed with Messi for the title of the highest rated player in FIFA games, has now dropped to an 86 card.

The launch of the highly anticipated game is now in full swing and, as every year, the release was preceded by the announcement of the age ratings.

The game will be officially released on September 27th for PC and consoles.