Lionel Messi graces the cover of the latest issue of Time magazine - but not in the US.

The Argentine and Barcelona star, who this year won the Fifa footballer of the year award for the third time in a row, was considered famous enough for the cover of the magazine's European, Asian and Oceanian editions.

But the magazine apparently believed he was not known well enough in the US. The US cover is of an image reflecting a report on shyness.

This is, however, not the first time a footballer has graced the magazine's cover .

In 1999 Time carried a picture of the US women's football team after they had won the World Cup. It happened again in 2010 ahead of the World Cup in South Africa.

It also carried a small picture of Didier Drogba on a 2010 cover as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

David Beckham and Ahn Jung Hwan appeared on European and Asian editions respectively.

But this is the first time that the magazine's cover report is wholly devoted to a male footballer across multiple international editions.

Time's report tries to focus on the rivalry between Messi and the other big player in Spain, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Messi said he had never been "fixated" on Ronaldo or compared himself to any other player.

"My mentality is just to achieve more each year, to grow both as an individual and as a team [player], and if he wasn't there, I'd be doing the same thing," he told Time.

So what does he think of Ronaldo?

"I think he's a good person. I think he's a good player who brings a lot to Madrid."