Who Is Lionel Messi?

Lionel Andrés Lionel Messi(born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both the Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history, Messi has set numerous records for individual accolades won throughout his professional footballing career, including eight Ballons d’Or, six European Golden Shoes, and eight times being named the world’s best player by FIFA.^{[note 2]} In 2025, he was named the All Time Men’s World Best Player by the IFFHS.

Messi is the most decorated player in the history of professional football, having won 46 team trophies.^{[note 3]} His records include most goals in a calendar year (91), most goals for a single club (672 for Barcelona), most goals in La Liga (474), tied most goals scored in the FIFA World Cup (16), and most assists in international football (61). Messi has scored over 910 senior career goals and provided over 410 assists for club and country, resulting in over 1,320 goal contributions—the highest total in the sport’s history

Messi made his competitive debut for Barcelona at age 17 in October 2004. He gradually established himself as an integral player for the club, and during his first uninterrupted season in 2008–09 he helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football. This resulted in Messi winning the first of four consecutive Ballon d’Ors, and by the 2011–12 season he had set the European record for most goals in a season and established himself as Barcelona’s all-time top scorer. During the 2014–15 season, where he became the all-time top scorer in La Liga, he led Barcelona to a historic second treble, earning his fifth Ballon d’Or. Messi was named Barcelona’s captain in 2018. While playing for the club, he won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions Leagues. Financial difficulties at Barcelona led Messi to depart in August 2021 and sign with Paris Saint-Germain, where he won the Ligue 1 title during both of his seasons there. He joined the Major League Soccer club Inter Miami in July 2023, and led them to their first MLS Cup victory in 2025, while also winning back-to-back league MVP awards in 2024 and 2025.

An Argentine international, Messi is the national team’s all-time leading goalscorer and most-capped player. Several years after his senior debut in 2005, he won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Assuming captaincy in 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals in the 2014 World Cup, the 2015 Copa América and the Copa América Centenario, all of which they lost. After announcing his retirement from international football in 2016, he returned to help Argentina qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Messi was central to ending Argentina’s 28-year trophy drought by winning the 2021 Copa América. In 2022, he led Argentina to a World Cup victory, the country’s first in 36 years. Messi’s third major international title arrived when Argentina won the 2024 Copa América.

Messi has endorsed the sportswear company Adidas since 2006. He was ranked the world’s highest-paid athlete by Forbes in 2019 and 2022, and was among Time‘s 100 most influential people in the world in 2011, 2012, and 2023. In 2020 and 2023, he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, the first team-sport athlete to win the award. In 2020, Messi was named to the Ballon d’Or Dream Team and became the second footballer and second team-sport athlete to surpass $1 billion in career earnings. In 2026, Messi appeared on the World’s Billionaires list for the first time at $1.1B net worth.^[26] Following his arrival and impact on football in the United States, Messi was named Time‘s Athlete of the Year in 2023, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by US president Joe Biden in 2025.

• Table of content
• Early life of Lionel Messi
• Youth career
• 2008–2012: Success under Pep Guardiola
• 2012–2014: Record-breaking year and Messidependencia

Early life of Lionel Messi

Messi was born on 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Santa Fe Province.^[27] He was the third of four children of Jorge Messi, head of department at the Acindar [es] pressed steel manufacturer in Villa Constitución, and his wife Celia Cuccittini, who worked in a magnet manufacturing workshop. His parents met as youngsters in Rosario’s south-eastern district of Las Heras, where Messi himself later grew up, and married on Jorge Messi’s completion of military service in the Argentine Armed Forces in 1978. On his father’s side, Messi is of Italian and Spanish descent, the great-grandson of immigrants from the north-central Adriatic Marche region of Italy (with his surname coming from Porto Recanati), and on his mother’s side he has primarily Italian ancestry.^[3][28] Growing up in a tight-knit, football-loving family, “Leo” developed a passion for the sport from an early age, playing constantly with his older brothers, Rodrigo and Matías, and his cousins, Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi, both of whom became professional footballers.^[29]

At the age of four, Messi joined the local football club Abanderado Grandoli FC where he was coached by his father. His maternal grandmother, Celia, accompanied him to training and matches.^[30] He was greatly affected by her death, shortly before his eleventh birthday. Since then, as a devout Catholic, he has celebrated his goals by looking up and pointing to the sky in tribute to his grandmother.

Youth career

Newell’s Old Boys

Messi started playing for the Rosario-based football club Newell’s Old Boys when he was seven years old; he would become a lifelong supporter of the club. During the six years he played for Newell’s, he scored almost 500 goals, and was a member of “The Machine of ’87”, a nearly unbeatable youth team named for the year of their birth. Messi regularly entertained crowds by performing ball tricks during half-time, when the Newell’s first team played home games.^[B] His goalscoring idol growing up was Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who Messi called “the best forward I’ve ever seen”.^[37]

Messi’s future as a professional player was threatened when, at the age of 10, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. He began growth hormone therapy at age 11;^[38] however, his father’s health insurance covered only two years of the therapy, which cost at least 1,000 pesos per month. Newell’s agreed to contribute, but later reneged on their promise.^[39] Messi was scouted by the Buenos Aires club River Plate, whose playmaker Pablo Aimar he idolised.^[40][41] It was speculated for a time that Messi failed to sign with River Plate due to his ill health; however, in a 2019 interview, he revealed that River Plate had wanted to sign him after he scored four goals at a trial, and even offered to pay for his medical treatment, but Newell’s refused to release his player card, preventing the transfer.^[42]

Barcelona

As the Messi family had relatives in Catalonia, they sought to arrange a trial with Barcelona in September 2000, when Messi was 13. First-team director Carles Rexach immediately wanted to sign him, but the board of directors hesitated; at the time it was highly unusual for European clubs to sign foreign players of such a young age. On 14 December, an ultimatum was issued for Barcelona to prove their commitment, and Rexach, with no other paper at hand, wrote a contract on a paper napkin.^[40][43] In February 2001, Messi’s family relocated to Barcelona, where they moved into an apartment near the club’s stadium, Camp Nou.^[43]

During his first year in Spain, Messi rarely played with the Infantiles due to a transfer conflict with Newell’s; as a foreigner, he could only be fielded in friendlies and the Catalan league. Without football, he struggled to integrate into the team. He was reserved by nature, and was so quiet that some of his teammates initially believed he was mute. At home, he suffered from homesickness after his mother moved back to Rosario with his brothers and younger sister, María Sol, while he stayed in Barcelona with his father.^[C]

After a year at Barcelona’s youth academy, La Masia, Messi was finally enrolled in the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in February 2002. Now he could play in all competitions, and quickly befriended his teammates, including Cesc Fàbregas and Gerard Piqué.^[45] After completing his growth hormone therapy at 14,^[46] Messi became an integral part of the “Baby Dream Team”, Barcelona’s greatest-ever youth side. During his first full season (2002–03), he was the top scorer with 36 goals in 30 games for the Cadetes A, who won an unprecedented treble of the league, the Spanish cup, and the Copa Catalunya.^[45][47] In the Copa Catalunya final, their 4–1 victory over Espanyol became referred to in club lore as the partido de la máscara, the final of the mask. A week after suffering a broken cheekbone during a league match, Messi was allowed to start the game on the condition that he wear a protective plastic mask. When the mask became a hindrance, Messi took it off and scored two goals in 10 minutes.^[48] At the close of the season, he received an offer to join Arsenal, his first from a foreign club. Although Fàbregas and Piqué soon left for England with their own offers, Messi chose to remain in Barcelona.^[D]

Messi continued to progress through his club’s ranks at a rapid pace, debuting for four youth teams during the 2003–04 season.^[51] After being named player of the tournament in four separate international pre-season competitions with the Juvenil B, he played only one official match with the team before being promoted to the Juvenil A. In the Juvenil A he scored 18 goals in 11 league games.^[52][53] During the international break, Messi was one of several youth players called up to strengthen the depleted first team. Ludovic Giuly, one of Barcelona’s wingers, described Messi’s performance during a training session: “He destroyed us all … He would dribble past four players and score a goal. Even the team’s starting centre-backs were nervous … He was an alien.

At 16 years old, Messi made his first-team debut when he came on in the 75th minute during a friendly against FC Porto on 16 November 2003.^[43][56] His performance impressed the technical staff, and he subsequently began training daily with the club’s reserve side, Barcelona B, as well as weekly with the first team.^[57] After Messi’s first training session with the senior squad, Barcelona’s new star player Ronaldinho told his teammates that he believed the 16-year-old would become an even better player than himself.^[58] Ronaldinho called Messi “little brother”, and his friendship greatly eased Messi’s transition onto the first team.^[59][60]

To gain further match experience, Messi joined his club’s third team, Barcelona C, in addition to the Juvenil A. He helped save the third team from the relegation zone of the Tercera División, scoring five goals in ten games, including a hat-trick in eight minutes during a Copa del Rey Juvenil match.^[52][61] His progress was reflected in his first professional contract, signed on 4 February 2004, which lasted until 2012 and contained an initial buyout clause of €30 million. A month later, he made his debut for Barcelona B in the Segunda División B, and his buyout clause automatically increased to €80 million.^[52][62] He played five games with the B team that season but did not score.^[63] He was physically weaker than his opponents, who were often much older and taller, and he worked on increasing his muscle mass and overall strength. Towards the end of the season, he returned to both youth teams, helping the Juvenil B win the league. He finished the campaign having scored goals for four of his five teams, with a total of 36 goals in all official competitions.^[52][61]

Barcelona

Messi began the 2004–05 season as a guaranteed starter for the Barcelona B team, but after some lobbying by the senior players, he was promoted to the first team by manager Frank Rijkaard.^[58] He made his La Liga debut for Barcelona on 16 October 2004, at 17 years old.^[43] He scored his first senior goal on 1 May 2005, becoming the youngest-ever scorer for the club at the time.^[64][65] He was at that time the youngest player to represent Barcelona in an official competition, and the club won the league title during that season.^[60][66]

On his 18th birthday, Messi signed his first contract as a senior team player, which kept him with Barcelona through 2010, and had a release clause of €150 million.^[67] Three months later, as his performance continued to make waves, his contract was updated to double his salary and keep him with the club until 2014.^[62][68] By the end of the 2005–06 season, Barcelona had won La Liga again as well as the UEFA Champions League.^[69][70]

During the 2006–07 season, Messi scored his first hat-trick during a game against Real Madrid, becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in a Clásico in 12 years.^[71] Two goals scored by Messi against Getafe and Espanyol during the season drew notice for their similarities to two famous goals scored by fellow Argentine Diego Maradona in the 1986 World Cup match against England, leading to comparisons between Messi and Maradona that would endure throughout Messi’s career.^[E] Barcelona finished the 2006–07 season with only one trophy – the 2006 Supercopa de España – and the 2007–08 season without a single trophy, leading to Rijkaard’s departure

2008–2012: Success under Pep Guardiola

At the beginning of the 2008–09 season – his first under Barcelona’s new manager, former captain Pep Guardiola – Messi was given the number 10 shirt.^[76] Over time, he effectively became the tactical focal point of Guardiola’s strategy, increasing his goalscoring rate as a result.^[77] During that season, Messi scored 38 goals, and alongside Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry, contributed to a total of 100 goals in all competitions, a record at the time for the club.^[78][79] Messi played in his first final as Barcelona won the Copa del Rey.^[80] Barcelona also won the La Liga title and the Champions League, thus achieving the first treble in the history of Spanish football.^[81]

During the first half of the 2009–10 season, Barcelona won the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, becoming the first club to achieve the sextuple.^[82][83] Messi finished as the Champions League top scorer, the youngest in the tournament’s history.^[84][85] For his efforts in 2009, Messi won the Ballon d’Or, the FIFA World Player of the Year award and his first European Golden Shoe.^[F] He scored a total of 47 goals in all competitions, equalling Ronaldo’s club record from the 1996–97 campaign.^[89][86] He signed a new 7-year contract with Barcelona through 2016.^[67]

During the 2010–11 season, Barcelona won the Supercopa de España,^[90] the Champions League,^[91] and a third consecutive La Liga title. Messi’s club performances in 2010 earned him his second consecutive Ballon d’Or.^[92] He was the top scorer in the Champions League for the third consecutive year,^[93] and the league’s top scorer and assist provider.^[94][95] He became Barcelona’s all-time single-season top scorer with 53 goals.^[G]

During the 2011–12 season Barcelona won both the Spanish and European Super Cup trophies, and the FIFA Club World Cup.^[H] Messi won the Golden Ball for the second time^[100] and the Ballon d’Or for the third time,^[101] as well as the inaugural UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.^[102] During the year 2012, Messi became the second player to be top scorer in four Champions League campaigns.^[103][104] He became the top goalscorer in Barcelona’s history at 24 years old, overtaking César Rodríguez’s 57-year record of 232 goals.^[105] He finished the season as the league top scorer in Spain for the second time with 50 goals, a La Liga record. His 73 goals in all competitions made him the single-season top scorer in the history of European club football excluding regional and local competitions.^[106][107] Barcelona won the Copa del Rey that season, their 14th trophy under Guardiola, who resigned after a four-year cycle of success.^[108]

2012–2014: Record-breaking year and Messidependencia

For the start of the 2012–13 season, Barcelona had virtually secured their La Liga title by the start of 2013.^[109] A double scored against Real Betis saw Messi becoming Barcelona’s all-time top scorer in La Liga, and surpassed Gerd Müller’s record of most goals scored in a calendar year; Messi scored a record 91 goals in all competitions for Barcelona and Argentina throughout 2012.^[110][111] Messi again won the FIFA Ballon d’Or, becoming the first player in history to win the Ballon d’Or four times.^[111][112] He signed a new contract committing himself to the club through 2018, and wore the captain’s armband for the first time in a league match against Rayo Vallecano.^[I] The team won La Liga again that year, Messi’s sixth, equalling Real Madrid’s 100-point record of the previous season. With 60 goals in all competitions, including 46 goals in La Liga, he finished the campaign as league top scorer in Spain and Europe for the second consecutive year, becoming the first player in history to win the European Golden Shoe three times.^[116]

Messi’s overall input into the team’s attack had increased significantly. Whereas he contributed to 24% of the team’s goals in their treble-winning campaign in 2008–09, this number rose to more than 40% by the end of the 2012–13 season.^[117] These statistics, as well as lopsided losses in the Champions League where Messi was unfit, gave credence to the notion of Messidependencia, Barcelona’s perceived tactical and psychological dependence on their star player.^[118]

To offset the load on Messi, Barcelona signed Brazilian forward Neymar from Santos before the 2013–14 season.^[119] The team won the Supercopa de España at the beginning of the season.^[120] Messi finished the campaign with his worst output in five seasons, though he still managed to score 41 goals in all competitions.^[121] For the first time in five years, Barcelona ended the season without a major trophy.^[122]