biography of messi in english

Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi, a forward for Inter Miami CF, is one of the world’s greatest soccer players and helped the Argentina national team win its third FIFA World Cup in 2022.

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1987-present

Lionel Messi News: Soccer Star Is the Subject of a New Apple TV+ Docuseries

Messi, now playing for Inter Miami CF of the MLS, helped his home country win soccer’s biggest event for the first time since 1986, scoring two goals in the final and leading Argentina to a 4-2 win over Kylian Mbappé and France on penalties. Argentina’s captain was also named the tournament MVP.

The new series follows up Messi Meets America , Apple’s 2023 look at the star striker’s arrival and first season in the MLS. Inter Miami begins the 2024 regular season also on February 21 with a match against Real Salt Lake.

Quick Facts

Early life of a soccer prodigy, club teams: barcelona, psg, and inter miami, argentina national team, tax fraud scandal, wife and children, charity and unicef, who is lionel messi.

Lionel Messi is an Argentinian soccer player who has played for FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, and currently, the MLS club Inter Miami CF as well as the Argentina national team. As a teenager, Messi moved from Argentina to Spain after FC Barcelona agreed to pay for medical treatments related to his growth hormone disorder. At the club, he earned renown as one of the greatest players in history, helping FC Barcelona win more than two dozen league titles and tournaments. In 2012, he set a record for most goals in a calendar year and, a decade later, helped the Argentina national team win its third FIFA World Cup. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, and in July 2023, he joined Inter Miami.

FULL NAME: Luis Lionel Andres Messi BORN: June 24, 1987 BIRTHPLACE: Rosario, Argentina SPOUSE: Antonella Roccuzzo (2017-present) CHILDREN: Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer

Luis Lionel Andres “Leo” Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. As a young boy, Messi tagged along when his two older brothers played soccer with their friends, unintimidated by the bigger boys. At the age of 8, he was recruited to join the youth system of Newell’s Old Boys, a Rosario-based club.

Recognizably smaller than most of the kids in his age group, Messi was eventually diagnosed by doctors as suffering from a hormone deficiency that restricted his growth. Messi’s parents, Jorge and Ceclia, decided on a regimen of nightly growth-hormone injections for their son, though it soon proved impossible to pay several hundred dollars per month for the medication.

So, at the age of 13, when Messi was offered the chance to train at soccer powerhouse FC Barcelona’s youth academy, La Masia, and have his medical bills covered by the team, Messi’s family picked up and moved across the Atlantic to make a new home in Spain. Although he was often homesick in his new country, Messi moved quickly through the junior system ranks.

Ultimately, Messi’s short stature—5 feet, 7 inches—combined with his speed and relentless attacking style, has drawn comparisons to another famous Argentinian footballer, Diego Maradona .

Messi played for FC Barcelona for 17 seasons before joining Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 for two seasons. In July 2023, he joined the MLS club Inter Miami.

FC Barcelona

At age 13, Messi signed with FC Barcelona. His first appearance for the team was when he was 16. On May 1, 2005, Messi put himself in the record books as the youngest player to ever score a goal for the franchise.

Messi steered Barcelona to a wealth of success, most notably in 2009, when the left-footer’s team captured the Champions League, La Liga, and Spanish Super Cup titles. That same year, after two consecutive runner-up finishes, he took home his first FIFA World Player of the Year honor, as well as his first Ballon d’Or award, the top European individual honor in football.

Messi became the first Argentinian player to win the Ballon d’Or. Even the great Maradona gushed about his fellow countryman. “I see him as very similar to me,” the retired player told the BBC. “He’s a leader and is offering lessons in beautiful football. He has something different than any other player in the world.”

Amazingly, the soccer wizard continued to improve, discovering new ways to elude defenders while leading Barcelona to La Liga and Spanish Super Cup championships in 2010 and 2011, as well as the ’11 Champions League title.

Messi embarked on an all-out assault on the record books in 2012. He became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League match in early March, and a few weeks later, he surpassed Cesar Rodriguez’s club-record 232 goals to become Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer. By the end of the year, Messi had accumulated an astounding 91 goals in club and international play, eclipsing the 85 netted in a single calendar year by Gerd Muller in 1972. Fittingly, he broke another record when he was named the Ballon d’Or winner for the fourth consecutive time.

In 2013, the soccer great came back to earth somewhat due to the persistence of hamstring injuries, but he regained his record-breaking form by becoming the all-time leading scorer in La Liga and Champions League play in late 2014.

After helping Barcelona achieve a historic second treble in 2015, he was honored with his fifth Ballon d’Or trophy. Four years later, following another La Liga title, Messi again established a new standard for excellence by claiming his sixth Ballon d’Or.

On August 5, 2021, FC Barcelona announced it couldn’t resign Messi due to the team’s budget constraints and La Liga restrictions. Despite having voiced his desire to leave the club the prior season, Messi bid a teary farewell after 17 seasons: “This is really difficult for me after so many years spent here, being here my entire life. I’m not ready for this.”

Paris Saint-Germain

Four days after the shocking news from FC Barcelona, Messi signed with Paris Saint-Germain. The 34-year-old inked a two-year contract with the French club. The move saw him reunite with former teammate Neymar as well as the talented Kylian Mbappé.

Messi made his debut for the club on August 29, 2021, and scored his first goal that September. PSG won two Ligue 1 titles with Messi but twice failed to advance beyond the round of 16 in the Champions League finals.

Although his contract allowed for an optional third year at PSG, the team announced it would release Messi as a free agent when the deal expired on June 30, 2023. Earlier in the year, the club suspended and fined Messi after he visited Saudi Arabia on an unauthorized trip. This all but sealed fate on the soccer legend’s widely expected move.

Messi’s last game for PSG was June 3, 2023. In total, he started in 72 games, notching 32 goals and 34 assists.

Inter Miami CF

On June 7, 2023, Messi told two Spanish media outlets he planned to play for the MLS club Inter Miami CF, which is partially owned by former soccer player David Beckham . “I have made the decision that I am going to Miami,” Messi said at the time, per ESPN . Messi later told Time he strongly considered joining a Saudi Arabian team before deciding on Inter Miami.

A little over a month later, on July 16, the team officially welcomed him on a 2.5-year contract that runs through the 2025 season. The deal was reportedly worth around $150 million , including an annual salary between $50 million and $60 million , a signing bonus, revenue sharing with the league’s media partner, and team equity upon retirement.

Inter Miami immediately benefitted on and off the field from their new team captain’s presence. The club went on a 12-match winning streak and captured the Leagues Cup, an annual tournament between teams from the MLS and Liga MX. Messi wound up scoring 11 goals in 14 games overall. However, with Messi injured late in the season, Inter Miami went winless in seven straight and failed to qualify for the playoffs. He was named the club’s 2023 MVP in November.

Messi has directly boosted revenue for the team, as well. Attendance at home games spiked 40 percent , the most in the MLS. According to The Athletic , the least expensive Inter Miami season ticket prices rose from $485 to $884 per seat from 2023 to 2024. Even with the price jump, Inter Miami announced 2024 season tickets sold out at the end of November, two months out of the start of the preseason. Not surprisingly, his jersey became the top seller in the MLS .

Messi and Inter Miami open the 2024 MLS regular season on February 21.

In summer 2005, Messi quickly made a name for himself on his native country’s under-20 squad. He led Argentina to the title in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, scoring on a pair of penalty kicks to propel the team over Nigeria. Less than two months later, he made his pro debut with Argentina in an August friendly match against Hungary but played less than two minutes before receiving a red card and being ejected from the game.

For all his success with Barcelona, Messi repeatedly came under fire for his inability to help Argentina’s national team win a major title. In the 2014 World Cup, Argentina lost to Germany in the final, though Messi was named player of the tournament that year. In 2016, following Argentina’s second consecutive loss to Chile in the final of the Copa America tournament, Messi announced he was ending his run with the national team.

The soccer great eventually reversed his decision, but his participation in the 2018 World Cup did not bring that elusive title, as hoped. After Messi scored an early goal in a 2-1 win over Nigeria that helped his team advance from the group stage, he was largely kept in check by France, his two assists not enough to stave off a 4-3 defeat that sent Argentina packing.

The following year, after Messi heavily criticized the referees in the wake of a 2-0 loss to Brazil in the Copa America semifinals, the Argentine captain was slapped with a three-game ban by the South American Football Confederation.

At last, in 2021 and 2022, Argentina and Messi found enough traction to bring home trophies that had long evaded them. First, the team won the Copa America—Argentina’s first major title in 28 years—in August 2021, besting Brazil in the final. Captain Messi tied for top goal scorer, alongside Colombia’s Luis Diaz, and was named player of the tournament. The next year, greater glory awaited at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Argentina captured the World Cup trophy on December 18, 2022, after a thrilling game against France that ended in a penalty shootout. Messi was named the Best FIFA Men’s Player for a second time and broke the record for most World Cup appearances with 26 games. Six jerseys that Messi had worn during the victorious championship run later sold for more than $7.8 million at auction.

In fall 2023, Messi scored three goals in qualifying games for the 2026 World Cup. However, as he nears the twilight of the his career, the soccer legend has adopted a realistic attitude about his future. “As long as I feel that I am fine and I can continue contributing, I am going to do it. Today, the only thing I think about is getting to the Copa America well and being able to compete in it,” Messi said of the 2024 tournament. “Then time will tell if I am [at the World Cup] or not. I’m going to be at an age (39) that normally doesn’t allow me to play in the World Cup.”

Messi won FIFA’s World Player Trophy five times, including four consecutive wins between 2009 and 2012, and has collected its contemporary the Best FIFA Men’s Player three times, in 2019, 2022, and 2023.

The soccer legend has won Europe’s Ballon d’Or a record eight times. When he won the Ballon d’Or in October 2023, Messi became the first active MLS player to do so. He’s also won the European Golden Shoe for top scorer six times, two more than his nearest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo .

In 2023, Time magazine named Messi its Athlete of the Year, pointing to his remarkable impact on soccer’s growing popularity in the United States.

In July 2016, Messi suffered a blow off the soccer field when a Barcelona court found him and his father guilty of three counts of tax fraud. During a four-day trial, Messi and his father denied breaking the law and claimed they were unaware of any tax illegalities they had committed.

However, they were both sentenced to 21 months in prison. Under Spanish law, first offenses under two years are suspended so they did not go to jail, but Messi was ordered to pay a fine of 2 million euros. His father was required to pay 1.5 million euros.

On June 30, 2017, Messi married Antonella Roccuzzo, his longtime girlfriend and the cousin of his best friend and fellow soccer player Lucas Scaglia. Messi met Roccuzzo in their hometown of Rosario when he was 5 years old. Their marriage, a civil ceremony dubbed by Argentina’s Clarín newspaper as the “wedding of the century,” was held at a luxury hotel in Rosario, with a number of fellow star soccer players and Colombian pop star Shakira on the 260-person guest list.

Messi and Roccuzzo have three children together: Thiago, born in November 2012; Mateo, born in September 2015; and Ciro, born in March 2018.

Although famously private off the field, Messi has quietly helped others in need. In 2007, he formed the Leo Messi Foundation to provide opportunities for disadvantaged youths. In early 2010, UNICEF named him a goodwill ambassador, with a focus on fighting for children’s rights across the globe.

• Every time I start a year, I start with the objective of trying to achieve everything, without comparing it to how I’ve done in other seasons.
• Whether it’s a friendly match, or for points, or a final, or any game—I play the same. I’m always trying to be my best, first for my team, for myself, for the fans and to try and win.
• I am competitive, and I feel bad when we lose. You can see it in me when we’ve lost. I’m in a bad way. I don’t like to talk to anyone.
• I made sacrifices by leaving Argentina, leaving my family to start a new life. I changed my friends, my people. Everything. But everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream.
• I have fun like a child in the street. When the day comes when I’m not enjoying it, I will leave football.
• I’ve never stopped being Argentine, and I’ve never wanted to. I feel very proud of being Argentine, even though I left there. I’ve been clear about this since I was very young, and I never wanted to change.
• Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits and get on with trying to win. I’ve always had this ability to get up and get on with it.
• I wasn’t teased as a child for my size. In fact, I think I had more affection because I was small.
• I am lucky, I live by my passion, and there are a lot of people who work, doing what they don't like and are badly paid for that.

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Lionel Messi is an Argentine-born  football  (soccer) player who has been named the world’s best men’s player of the year seven times (2009–12, 2015, 2019, and 2021). In 2022 he helped Argentina win the  World Cup . Naturally left-footed, quick, and precise in control of the ball, Messi is known as a keen pass distributor and can readily thread his way through packed defenses.

Lionel Messi started playing football as a boy and was noticed by clubs on both sides of the Atlantic. When he was 13, his family relocated to Barcelona . He played for  FC Barcelona ’s under-14 team, quickly graduating through the higher-level teams until his informal debut at age 16 with FC Barcelona in a friendly match.

Lionel Messi scored 73 goals during the 2011–12 season while playing for FC Barcelona , breaking a 39-year-old record for single-season goals in a major European football league. In 2014 Messi led Argentina to the World Cup final, which Argentina lost, but Messi won the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s best player. During the 2016 Copa América Centenario tournament, he netted his 55th international goal to break Gabriel Batistuta ’s Argentine scoring record. He led Argentina’s national team to win the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 World Cup, when he again won the Golden Ball award.

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Lionel Messi (born June 24, 1987, Rosario , Argentina) is an Argentine-born football (soccer) player who received a record-setting eight Ballon d’Or awards as the world’s top male player (2009–12, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2023). In 2022 he helped Argentina win the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)’s World Cup .

Messi started playing football as a boy and in 1995 joined the youth team of Newell’s Old Boys (a Rosario-based top-division football club). Messi’s phenomenal skills garnered the attention of prestigious clubs on both sides of the Atlantic. At age 13 Messi and his family relocated to Barcelona, and he began playing for FC Barcelona ’s under-14 team. He scored 21 goals in 14 games for the junior team, and he quickly graduated through the higher-level teams until at age 16 he was given his informal debut with FC Barcelona in a friendly match.

In the 2004–05 season Messi, then 17, became the youngest official player and goal scorer in the Spanish La Liga (the country’s highest division of football). Though only 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 metres) tall and weighing 148 pounds (67 kg), he was strong, well-balanced, and versatile on the field. Naturally left-footed, quick, and precise in control of the ball, Messi was a keen pass distributor and could readily thread his way through packed defenses. In 2005 he was granted Spanish citizenship, an honour greeted with mixed feelings by the fiercely Catalan supporters of Barcelona. The next year Messi and Barcelona won the Champions League (the European club championship) title.

Messi’s play continued to rapidly improve over the years, and by 2008 he was one of the most dominant players in the world, finishing second to Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the voting for the 2008 Ballon d’Or. In early 2009 Messi capped off a spectacular 2008–09 season by helping FC Barcelona capture the club’s first “treble” (winning three major European club titles in one season): the team won the La Liga championship, the Copa del Rey (Spain’s major domestic cup), and the Champions League title. He scored 38 goals in 51 matches during that season, and he bested Ronaldo in the balloting for both the Ballon d’Or and FIFA’s world player of the year by a record margin. During the 2009–10 season Messi scored 34 goals in domestic games as Barcelona repeated as La Liga champions. He earned the Golden Shoe award as Europe’s leading scorer, and he received another Ballon d’Or (the award was known as the FIFA Ballon d’Or in 2010–15).

Messi led Barcelona to La Liga and Champions League titles the following season, which helped him capture an unprecedented third consecutive world player of the year award. In March 2012 he netted his 233rd goal for Barcelona, becoming the club’s all-time leading scorer in La Liga play when only 24 years old. He finished Barcelona’s 2011–12 season (which included another Copa del Rey win) with 73 goals in all competitions, breaking Gerd Müller ’s 39-year-old record for single-season goals in a major European football league. His landmark season led to his being named the 2012 world player of the year, which made Messi the first player to win the honour four times. His 46 La Liga goals in 2012–13 led the league, and Barcelona captured another domestic top-division championship that season. In 2014 he set the overall Barcelona goal record when he scored his 370th goal as a member of the team. That same year he also broke the career scoring records for play in both the Champions League (with 72 goals) and La Liga (with 253 goals).

Messi helped Barcelona capture another treble during the 2014–15 season, leading the team with 43 goals scored over the course of the campaign, which resulted in his fifth world player of the year honour. He scored 41 goals across all competitions for Barcelona in 2015–16, and the club won the La Liga title and the Copa del Rey during that season. Messi topped that with 53 goals for Barcelona in 2016–17, leading the team to another Copa del Rey title. In 2017–18 he scored 45 goals, and Barcelona won the La Liga–Copa del Rey double once again. Messi scored 51 goals across all domestic competitions in 2018–19 as Barcelona won another La Liga championship. In late 2019 he won his sixth career Ballon d’Or and was named FIFA’s best male player of the year. In the 2020–21 season, Barcelona claimed the Copa del Rey title, the seventh of Messi’s career. He became a free agent in 2021, and financial issues—some of which were the result of La Liga rules—largely prevented him from re-signing with Barcelona. He left the club after setting a number of records; notably, he was the leading goal scorer in the league’s history (474).

Later in 2021 Messi signed with Paris St.-Germain (PSG), where he joined superstars Kylian Mbappé and Neymar , and that year he received yet another Ballon d’Or. He helped PSG win the Ligue 1 title in each of his two seasons with the team. In 2023 Messi joined Inter Miami of Major League Soccer .

Despite his dual citizenship and professional success in Spain, Messi’s ties with his homeland remained strong, and he was a key member of various Argentine national teams from 2005. He played on Argentina’s victorious 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship squad, represented the country in the 2006 World Cup, and scored two goals in five matches as Argentina swept to the gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games . Messi helped Argentina reach the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals, where the team was eliminated by Germany for the second consecutive time in World Cup play. At the 2014 World Cup, Messi put on a dazzling display, scoring four goals and almost single-handedly propelling an offense-deficient Argentina team through the group stage and into the knockout rounds, where Argentina then advanced to the World Cup final for the first time in 24 years. Argentina lost that contest 1–0 to Germany, but Messi nevertheless won the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s best player. During the 2016 Copa América Centenario tournament, he netted his 55th international goal to break Gabriel Batistuta ’s Argentine scoring record.

After Argentina was defeated in the Copa final—the team’s third consecutive finals loss in a major tournament—Messi said that he was quitting the national team, but his short-lived “retirement” lasted less than two months before he announced his return to the Argentine team. At the 2018 World Cup, he helped an overmatched Argentine side reach the knockout stage, where they were eliminated by eventual champion France in their first match. After a third-place finish at the 2019 Copa América, Messi led Argentina to victory in the tournament two years later, and he received the Golden Ball award. His success continued at the 2022 World Cup . There he guided Argentina to the finals, where he scored two goals—and made a penalty kick during the shootout—to help defeat France. Messi won the World Cup’s Golden Ball, becoming the first male player to receive that award twice. In addition, his outstanding play in the tournament was instrumental in Messi winning his eighth Ballon d’Or in 2023.

Off the field, Messi was one of the biggest athletic stars in the world. In addition to earning a football salary that was frequently, with Ronaldo’s, one of the two largest athletes’ salaries in all professional sports, he was an extremely successful product pitchman, notably for the sportswear company Adidas . In 2013 Messi and his father (who handled his son’s finances) were charged with tax fraud and accused of using overseas shell companies to avoid paying €4.2 million in Spanish taxes on endorsement earnings. Despite subsequently paying €5 million to the Spanish state, the pair were nevertheless ordered to stand trial on the charges in 2016. In July of that year, Messi and his father were each given suspended 21-month prison sentences (first-time offenders in Spain are given suspended sentences if the duration is under two years) and were fined €2 million and €1.5 million, respectively.

Biography Online

Lionel Messi Biography

Lionel Messi is an Argentinian footballer widely regarded as one of the greatest players of the modern generation. He plays for FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He has won FIFA world player of the year five times (2009–12 and 2015) . He has often been described as Diego Maradona’s successor because of his prolific goal scoring record and ability to dribble past opponents.

“I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentine football and his name is Messi. Messi is a genius, and he can become an even better player.”

His potential is limitless, and I think he’s got everything it takes to become Argentina’s greatest player.”

– Diego Maradona

Short Biography Lionel Messi

He began playing from an early age, and his talent was soon apparent. However, at the age of 11, Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). This was a condition that stunted growth and required expensive medical treatment, including the use of the drug Human growth hormone.

His local club, River Plate were interested in signing Messi but didn’t want to pay for his medical treatment. However, Messi was given a trial with Barcelona, and coach Carles Rexach was impressed – offering Messi a contract (written on a paper napkin!) which included paying for Messi’s treatment in Spain. Messi moved to Barcelona with his father and became part of the prestigious FC Barcelona youth academy.

“I made a lot of sacrifices by leaving Argentina, leaving my family to start a new life. But everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream. That’s why I didn’t go out partying, or do a lot of other things.”

– Lionel Messi

In the 2009-10 season, Messi scored 47 goals in all competitions, equalling Ronaldo’s record total for Barcelona. As the seasons have progressed, Messi kept improving and breaking his own records. In the calendar year of 2012, he broke the all-time world record for most goals scored in a calendar year. His final total of goals in 2012 was 91 – beating the previous record of 85 by German Gerd Muller, and Pele’s milestone of 75 in 1958.

“My record stood for 40 years – 85 goals in a year – and now the best player in the world has broken it, and I’m delighted for him. He is an incredible player, gigantic.”

– Gerd Muller

At the start of 2013, in club football, Messi has scored 292 goals from a total of 359 appearances, and in international football, 31 goals from 76 appearances.

At the end of 2012, Messi turned down a very lucrative offer to play for an unnamed Russian side. It would have given Messi a salary of €20 million a year and made Messi the most expensive player in the world (Barcelona would have been paid €250 million). He turned down the offer because he was unsure if he would be playing in major European championships and the difficulties in moving to Russia. Instead, he signed a contract with Barcelona until the end of 2018. When asked about moving to the English Premier League, Messi revealed his sense of commitment to Barcelona.

“ Barcelona is my life. They have brought me to where I am today. I could not leave, I don’t want to leave. I know the Premier League is very good. But I cannot see myself playing in England because my heart is with Barcelona, always.”

International Career

Because Messi was brought up in Spain, since he was 11 years old, he has Spanish nationality. In 2004, he was offered the chance to play for Spain’s Under 20 side, but Messi decided to play for Argentina, the country of his birth. He led Argentina to victory in the 2005 FIFA Youth Championship. Messi made his full international debut in August 2005, during a friendly against Hungary. In his first game, Messi was sent off for allegedly elbowing a player. The decision was contentious and not in keeping with Messi’s style of play which is generally clean and in the spirit of fair play; he has very rarely been accused of diving.

In 2006, he participated in the World Cup, becoming Argentina’s youngest player to play in the world cup. Argentina were eliminated in the quarter-finals. In 2008, he won an Olympic gold medal for Argentina in football at the Beijing Olympics. Initially, Barcelona had not allowed him permission to play, but new coach Pep Guardiola allowed him time off.

In the 2010 World Cup, Messi wore the number 10 shirt and played well to help Argentina reach the quarter-finals, but Messi struggled to score, and Argentina disappointingly lost 4-0 to Germany in the quarter-final. Messi has admitted he is desperate to play in a world cup final. Success for Messi in the World Cup would be the last test of greatness. Pele , by contrast, was part of Brazil’s three times winning World Cup side ’58, ’62 and ’70.

Messi is widely regarded as one of the most exciting players of the modern age – in fact, any age. He has a peerless ability to dribble and take on opponents. Maradona has described his ball control as supremely good. “ The ball stays glued to his foot; I’ve seen great players in my career, but I’ve never seen anyone with Messi’s ball control.” Messi has said he wishes to retain the joy of how a child plays football

“I have changed nothing, my style of play is still that of a child. I know that above all it is my job and that I should approach it in another way, but one must not lose sight of the fact that football is a game. It is imperative one plays to amuse oneself, to be happy. That is what children do and I do the same thing.” (total Barca)

After winning the Ballon d’Or for the fourth time in January 2013, Messi said:

“To tell you the truth this is really quite unbelievable. The fourth award that I have had is just too great for words. ” ( BBC )

Messi and Ronaldo

Messi has often been compared to prolific Real Madrid goalscorer Christiano Ronaldo, but both have been keen to downplay the rivalry.

“Messi has his personality and I have mine. He has his game and I have mine. I also play in a big club like him. We are different in every aspect. But right now, he is the best.”

— Christiano Ronaldo , in September 2011

Messi’s goalscoring record

Source: Christopher Johnson, Barcelona FC. CC-SA-2.5

By any standards, Messi’s goal scoring record is exceptional. By June 2019, he has scored 419 goals in 445 official matches for Barcelona FC.

• In 2012/13, Messi set an all-time world record of scoring in 21 consecutive games (33 goals from 21 games)
• He holds the Guinness World Record for most goals in a calendar year – 91 goals during 2012.
• He is the only player to score in four consecutive Champions League campaigns.
• His international record for Argentina is 68 goals from 133 appearances.

Messi major honours

• Spanish La Liga title (*10) : 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16
• Spanish Cup (*6) – Copa del Rey
• Supercopa de España (*6)
• UEFA Champions League ( *4 ) : 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014-15
• UEFA Super Cup ( *3 )
• FIFA Club World Cup ( 3 )
• Olympic Gold Medal: 2008
• FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2005
• 2006 World Cup – QF
• 2010 World Cup – QF
• 2014 World Cup – Runners-up.
• 2018 World Cup

Wealth and income

Messi has frequently been the target of other football clubs with big transfer budgets, but he has remained loyal to Barcelona FC. He is one of the highest paid footballers in the world. His base salary is estimated at €40 million per year. His combined income 2018 from all sources was €126m. This made him the highest paid sports star – according to Forbes. From 2018, his weekly salary from Barcelona is $667,000 per week.

Private life

By the standards of modern football, Messi has a relatively private and modest lifestyle. He makes efforts to keep links to his hometown of Rosario. He has an Argentinian girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo, and they have two children. His first child Thiago was born in November 2012.

Lionel Messi – Real Bios at Amazon by Marie Morreale.

Messi acts as an ambassador for Unicef, and also runs his own charitable foundation – supporting access to education and sport for children. Because of his own expensive medical treatment, he has also helped Argentinian hospitals with paying for similar treatment to his own.

World Cup 2014

Many commentators have stated that Lionel Messi has performed at his best in all competitions, except the World Cup. In both the 2006 and 2010 World Cup, Argentina were knocked out in the quarter-finals, with Messi not at his best.

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil is an opportunity for Messi to make an impact on the highest stage of them all. In the opening game against, Bosnia – Herzegovina, Messi scored a great goal to give Argentina a winning start. He scored four goals to help Argentina reach the World Cup Final. In the final, Argentina lost 1-0 to Germany. Messi was awarded ‘Golden Ball’ player of the tournament, though the decision was not universally supported. After the tournament, Messi replied:

“I do not care about the Golden Ball. I am just upset by the wasted chances. We had the best chances. We knew we could not dominate the game but we knew what we wanted to do. Right now I do not care about my prize. I just wanted to lift the cup and bring it to Argentina. The pain is very great.”

In June 2016, a very disappointed Messi announced his retirement from international football, after missing a penalty as Argentina got knocked out of the Copa America final. However, Messi later reversed his decision, saying he loved playing for Argentina too much, and “I see there are many problems in Argentinian football and I don’t intend to create another one.”

However, Messi returned to international football and led Argentina in the 2018 World Cup. Despite carrying the weight of expectation of a nation, the World Cup was considered a great disappointment. However, in the 2018/19 season, Messi returned to his usual scintillating performance with Barcelona.

World Cup 2022

After a disappointing first game, when Argentina unexpectedly lost to Saudi Arabia, Lionel Messi was key to firing Argentina to a 2-0 victory over Mexico, with Messi scoring an excellent goal. If Messi has lost something of his speed and top level fitness, he remains just as potent in front of the goal, with the capacity to make match winning contributions. The goal took him to 8 world cup goals, 2nd overall and level with Diego Maradona.

Published 10 January 2018. Last updated 30 November 2022

• Full name Lionel Andrés Messi
• Date of birth 24 June 1987 (1987-06-24)
• Place of birth Rosario, Argentina
• Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
• Playing Position: Forward
• Total club appearances 684. Total Goals 578 (Dec. 2018)
• Total international appearances 151. Total Goals 81 (Dec. 2018)
• La Liga titles with Barcelona (9)
• UEFA Champions League (4) 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15
• FIFA Ballon d’Or/Ballon d’Or (5)
• Guinness World Record as top goalscorer for club and country in a calendar year: 91 goals in 2012

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “Biography of Lionel Messi”, Oxford, UK.  www.biographyonline.net . First published 26 June 2012. Last updated 26 June 2019.

The Amazing Story of Leo Messi

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Lionel Messi: The Rise to Stardom. at Amazon

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Super biography

• February 03, 2019 2:09 PM
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Lionel MESSI

Born in Rosario, Argentina, in 1987, Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, and his illustrious career proves why. The Argentinean footballer, who holds a record eight Ballon d'Or awards , has displayed his talent early on and has always been destined for greatness.

When Messi was 13 years old, he and his family moved to Barcelona, where the club assisted him in treating his growth hormone deficiency . He started playing for FC Barcelona's U14 team. The Argentinean quickly rose through the ranks, impressing everyone with exceptional skills and talent. At 17, he made his first senior appearance for the club and became a vital player for the Blaugranas.

The Rosario's native relationship with Barcelona was very successful. During his 17-year career with the team, he helped them win numerous titles, including 10 La Liga titles , four Champions League crowns , and seven Copa del Rey trophies . He is also the all-time leading scorer in La Liga , with an incredible 474 goals to his name. He left the Spanish club in 2021 to join French powerhouse Paris Saint Germain , where he played two years before joining Inter Miami in the MLS.

On the international stage, the former Barça star has been a standout player for his country. He was instrumental in helping them win the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, where he also won the Golden Ball , awarded to the competition's best player. He was also part of the Argentina under-23 team that won Olympic gold at the Beijing 2008 Games, which remains one of his most treasured career highlights.

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Lionel Messi: The evolution of the greatest footballer of all time

The way his first coach tells the story, the kid wasn’t even supposed to be on the pitch. It was his older brother’s game. They were a player short. Salvador Aparicio looked over at the stands and saw a small boy playing by himself, in private communion with the ball. When he asked his mother if he could borrow him, she said he didn’t know how to play football.

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The first time the game came his way, sure enough, the kid stood stock still and watched the ball roll by. Moms make the best scouts. But the second time — Aparicio remembered this many years later — the ball hit his left leg and something happened. Picture lightning shooting up a tiny spinal column, if you want. Unplumbed regions of the brain glittering like fireworks in the dark. Choirs of angels cranking a heavenly spotlight to shine on this one particular patch of dirt in a working-class neighbourhood in Rosario, Argentina. Whatever makes it make sense to you: the gift was just there .

“He controlled the ball and took off diagonally across the middle of the pitch, dribbling,” said Aparicio. “He dribbled past anyone in his path.”

There’s a video of the coach telling this story as an old man, fluttering his hand like a fish whipping through water. Then he stops talking and pulls a face that can only be described as a kind of shrug, as though even at the end of his life he was still struggling to accept the cosmic logic of what came next.

“I was screaming, ‘Shoot! Shoot!’” Aparicio said. “But he couldn’t do it. He was too small.”

The greatest player ever to kick a ball wasn’t ready to do the thing he was put on this Earth to do. The gift was there even before his left foot was.

• Lionel Messi profile: The life and times of Inter Miami’s World Cup winner

The Dribbling Winger

Next time you’ve got a minute to reconsider whether you’ve ever truly been good at anything, pull up some blurry youth academy footage from Messi ’s hometown club, Newell’s Old Boys. Watch a skinny eight-year-old with short sleeves down to his elbows take off dribbling and you’ll know right away who it is.

It’s not just that he blows through four or five opponents straight from kick-off. It’s the quick, choppy steps, the light kiss of the ball with the outside of his left boot to send a defender sprawling in the dirt before skipping around him. He’s running at the speed of the ball, letting it roll under his body so that every little half-stride is a threat to slice sideways or burst forward. The style is unmistakable.

Even back then, he refused to go down. Most dribblers will stop and start, lean, lunge, twist, turn and, sooner or later, get knocked off balance. The better the dribbler, the more risks they take in tight spaces; the greater the risk, the harder defenders punish them for it. Messi just kept running. He stayed low to the ground, using those quick little steps for control and windmilling his forearms for balance. By age 12, he was dragging would-be tacklers behind him like an NFL running back.

You know who else dribbled like that? Diego Armando Maradona, the manic Argentine god of football mischief, the most beloved player ever to wear his country’s blue and white. Off the pitch, the shy kid from Rosario couldn’t have been more different from the brash Buenos Aires idol, but on it their similarities were uncanny: two short, sturdy, left-footed dribblers with shaggy hair and the same driving style, the delicate close control, slaloming through thickets of violence to create impossible goals.

In the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals against England, the year before Messi was born, Maradona scored a goal that’s widely considered the best ever. He picked up the ball in Argentina’s own half, just outside the centre circle, and finished some 70 yards and five humiliated opponents later when he rounded the goalkeeper and tapped the ball into the open net. Any football fan can close their eyes and run the tape: the spin move, the long dash, the weaving in and out, the shot a split-second before his legs were swept out from under him. A fever dream of a goal. Nobody had seen anything like it.

And then, improbably, everyone did. In the spring of 2007, Messi — still a teenager but already a star, enjoying a breakout season with Barcelona — pulled off a goal against Getafe that felt like a shot-for-shot remake of the Maradona original. He eviscerated two defenders in his own half. Took off at a dead sprint without ever losing control of the ball. Cut inside, swerved outside, rounded the ’keeper, the whole shebang. Imagine picking up a paintbrush one weekend and accidentally recreating the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Aparicio, the youth coach who once borrowed a boy from the stands and witnessed his first miraculous dribble, watched him come of age on TV. “The other day I saw him score this goal — they say it was like Maradona,” he told an interviewer. “I think he is better.”

He looked away for a moment and his voice started to quaver: “When I watch him play like that, I cry. You understand?”.

The False Nine

Some players are born to score goals. Others set them up. Most play further back, passing and moving to help get their team upfield. Every once in a while you’ll see a prodigy who can do it all, dreaming up attacking moves they are good enough to construct and finish themselves. Check the back of that player’s shirt and chances are they’ll be wearing the No 10.

Back when football squad numbers were first assigned by position, the No 10 belonged to the inside left forward — the natural slot for a right-footed playmaker. Formations evolved over decades, but the No 10’s role stayed more or less the same: he worked behind the striker, between the opponent’s lines, creating and scoring in the most crowded part of the pitch. Due to the sheer difficulty of the job, the shirt itself came to be a sort of honour. Pele wore it by accident, after Brazil forgot to assign kits at the 1958 World Cup, but he helped seal the No 10’s association with greatness. Maradona, with Argentina, refused to wear anything else.

Messi didn’t get the No 10 when he joined Barcelona. That belonged to the reigning best player on the planet, Ronaldinho, a Brazilian playmaker who lined up as a winger but led the attack with so much verve and imagination that it would have felt wrong to see the shirt on anyone else. The teenage Messi’s job was to be a dribbling, goalscoring gremlin on the opposite wing, the electric guitar punctuating Ronaldinho’s lead vocals. His first professional goal came from an ingenious Ronaldinho scoop over the back line that Messi brought down in the box, then lobbed over the goalkeeper’s head to complete a double rainbow.

In 2008, the summer Messi turned 21, Ronaldinho left Barcelona and a new coach named Pep Guardiola gave the No 10 shirt to his young right winger. It was a turning point in Messi’s career. Otherworldly highlights wouldn’t be enough anymore — he needed to be the star around whom the whole system would spin.

At first, Messi interpreted the playmaker role as the wing-like Ronaldinho did, cutting inside behind the centre-forward Samuel Eto’o to undo defences. He had a stellar first season under Guardiola, scoring and assisting more goals than all but two players in Europe’s top five leagues — and one of those two was Eto’o, enjoying a career year thanks to Messi’s largesse.

But in May 2009, the night before Barca travelled to Madrid for El Clasico, football’s biggest rivalry, Guardiola decided to change things up.

Messi and Eto’o were told to start in their regular positions, but eight minutes into the game they would switch places: the centre-forward out wide to the right, the playmaker into the middle. The idea was to scramble Real Madrid ’s central defenders, who couldn’t just sit deep to protect the goal but would now have to decide when to follow Messi into midfield. This unusual attacking role — neither a traditional No 9 in the box nor a No 10 behind a striker — was known as a “false nine”.

The gambit worked better than anyone could have hoped.

Messi assisted Barcelona’s first goal in that Clasico by luring a centre-back out of the back line and shovelling a pass to Thierry Henry in the space behind him. He scored two more himself and generally terrorised the Madrid defence up the middle en route to a 6-2 win. Guardiola was so pleased that he tried the position swap again a few weeks later in the Champions League final against Manchester United , and Messi — the shortest player on the pitch — secured the trophy with a striker’s header in the box.

His false-nine era had begun.

As he gradually became a full-time centre-forward over the next few years, Messi went supernova. We’re talking absolutely bonkers. In the first eight decades of La Liga to that point, its record for goals scored in a season was 38, shared by Telmo Zarra in 1950 and Hugo Sanchez in 1990. From 2009 to 2013, Messi averaged — averaged! — more than 40 league goals per season, peaking at 50 in 2011-12, while at the same time assisting the second-most goals in the top five European leagues. He won the Ballon d’Or, the award for the best player in the world, four years running.

After taking home every trophy they competed for in 2008-09, Barcelona won La Liga three out of the next four seasons, topping things off with another Champions League in 2011. Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary Manchester United manager unlucky enough to go up against Barca in both those Champions League finals, called them the best side he’d ever faced.

The secret to all this success was that Messi was holding down two jobs at once. Barcelona’s “tiki-taka” possession game was led by a telepathic midfield trio — Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets — who had been practising the same pass-and-move principles since childhood in the club’s academy. When Messi dropped off the front line, he made a natural fourth midfielder at the tip of a diamond, just as intuitive as the other three at pinging short passes around in tight spaces. Together, these four outnumbered and outclassed opposing midfields, passing their way straight up the heart of the pitch and swarming to recover lost balls so quickly that it felt like the other team were just there to watch.

The reason most teams don’t use their centre-forward as a spare midfielder, of course, is that they need them to be in the box, scoring goals. Messi’s genius was that he could do both. He played like a midfielder in the build-up, accounting for eight per cent of Barcelona’s pass attempts in open play, but somehow always found a way to finish moves around the penalty spot, scoring up to 50 per cent of the team’s open-play goals at his false-nine peak.

He scored every way you can imagine, plus a few you probably couldn’t, but two finishes in particular became signatures during Messi’s false-nine years. One was the running chip, which usually happened when he dropped off and centre-backs pushed up behind him, leaving naked grass in front of goal. One way or another — sometimes on the dribble, sometimes running in behind for a through-ball — Messi would break free and run right up to the goalkeeper, waiting for him to get low to try to smother the ball before flipping it insouciantly over his head and running off with two fingers pointed to the sky.

His other favourite kind of shot, carving through the middle with a one-two, was the purest expression of what a false nine could be.

These moves started in midfield, where he would swap a pass or two and turn to dribble at the defence. That got people’s attention. When someone stepped out to stop him, it would open a lane for Messi to play a pass. Then, suddenly, he would vanish. This part is a little hard to explain. For a second or two after he released the ball, everyone would lose track of the best player on the pitch, and the next thing you knew he had teleported into the box to collect the return pass and score.

How did he keep pulling it off? It didn’t hurt that the team-mates he played those one-twos with were very good themselves. A line-breaking pass to a player like that has a way of causing panic, like a shoe on an anthill. But the main thing was that Messi was always arriving in space, not occupying it. His wandering meant nobody could be quite sure who was responsible for him, and the moment defenders turned their head to follow a pass he would dart into somebody else’s zone and get the ball back before they even knew he was there.

Like most magic, Messi’s game worked by simple misdirection. He was a playmaking No 10. He passed. You looked away. Abracadabra, he was a goalscoring No 9. “Don’t write about him, don’t try to describe him,” Guardiola once advised journalists. “Just watch him.”

His gift was that nobody could even do that.

The Wide Playmaker

Looking back, it’s fair to say nobody has had a bigger impact on Messi’s career — if not always in the way they might have hoped — than Neymar . The Brazilian phenom arrived at Barca in 2013 as his heir apparent, electric in much the same way the young winger Messi had been. His dribbling style was a little different (flashier, more delicate, more… Brazilian) but all the skills were there to become the world’s next great wide playmaker.

As scintillating as Neymar was, though, it didn’t suit false-nine Messi to have a ball-to-feet winger drifting in from the left, slowing down the game and crowding him in the middle. Their first season together was Messi’s worst in years: a mere 28 goals and 11 assists, the third-most in the top five leagues. So Barcelona went out and signed the guy with the most, Liverpool striker Luis Suarez , and Messi moved back to the right wing.

A Messi-Suarez-Neymar front line was hilariously unfair, like releasing hungry orcas in a fish farm. Barca swept to a second treble in 2014-15, playing looser, more direct football than in the tiki-taka days, letting their superstar front three run wild. Messi resumed regular service torching dudes from the wing. That spring, he scored two of his most famous goals a few weeks apart: the one in the Champions League where he turned Jerome Boateng, Bayern Munich’s best centre-back, into a puddle, and the marathon dribble in the Copa del Rey final where he made the entire left side of Athletic Bilbao’s defence disappear.

But even as Barcelona’s attack reached new heights, the ground was shifting beneath them in midfield.

Xavi, the team’s long-time orchestrator, left in 2015 at age 35, and Iniesta followed him out the door three years later, aged 34. They were replaced by athletic midfielders whose job was more manual labour than art, doing Messi’s running and defending for him while he took on more and more responsibility as the team’s creative focal point.

Grown-up wide playmaker Messi wasn’t like his chaotic young winger self. He was becoming more orderly with age — more predictable, really, but in some ways more dangerous. You know that Bruce Lee line about fearing the man who’s practised 10,000 kicks less than the one who’s practised one kick 10,000 times? This was kung fu master Messi, distilling his game to moves he had perfected.

He would receive the ball on the right, sometimes all the way out on the sideline, where he could start the attack in space, facing play. He would dribble. He would cut inside. Everyone in the stadium knew the cut was coming, but his timing was so sharp that the only way to stop it would have been to defend at his nine o’clock and leave a lane straight to goal.

So in he would go, angling across the back line, choosing from a menu of ways to break their hearts. The killer move was a quick one-two to shake loose and curl a shot from the top of the box. But if a centre-back stepped out to intercept him, he’d slip a little dagger to put Suarez in on goal or shovel a sideways pass to an open midfielder on the left.

One of his favourite plays was to draw the defence toward him before bending a left-footed diagonal over everyone’s heads into the path of a team-mate streaking in behind from the far wing. Left-back Jordi Alba became one of Barcelona’s assist leaders by learning to time his runs onto Messi diagonals and slide the ball to a runner in front of goal — often this was Messi himself, materialising at the other end of a long-distance one-two.

As Neymar developed into Messi’s not-quite mirror image on the left, he got tired of playing the protege. In 2017, he made a record-breaking move to Paris Saint-Germain, leaving Barcelona with a pile of money that they promptly squandered on expensive players who didn’t fit. For the next four years, while Messi aged into his thirties, their crumbling squad grew increasingly reliant on him to do everything — a condition Spanish media called “Messidependencia”.

To the extent that Barcelona’s attack still worked, it was because Messi could produce goals out of thin air. His quick feet and uncanny ability to read defenders’ movement allowed him to get shots off in situations where not many players could, but the shots were getting more difficult: further from goal, with more opponents packed in behind the ball. He kept scoring them anyway, winning the Pichichi trophy for the most goals in Spain every year from 2016 to 2021 and topping Europe in three of those five seasons.

Most elite scorers are volume shooters: although they’re extraordinarily good at getting on the end of high-quality chances, they tend to finish them at a fairly ordinary clip. Messi is very good at finding chances, but he’s a freak at converting them. He can pick his moment to catch the goalkeeper off guard and aim a hard, low shot precisely in either bottom corner, where it’s hardest to save. In the back half of his career, he’s become just as deadly at free kicks, which he likes to curl over the wall into the top-right corner.

According to Statsbomb’s expected goals model, he scored 44 per cent more goals over the course of his career in the top five leagues than an average shooter would have produced from the same chances — a virtually unimaginable stat.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Barcelona’s spending spiral that started when Neymar left became a full-blown financial crisis that cut short Messi’s career at the only club he’d ever known. In 2021, he said an abrupt, teary goodbye and followed Neymar to Paris.

Though nobody had known it was anything historic at the time, his final goal for Barcelona had been a header against Celta Vigo that he placed neatly in the far bottom corner, out of the goalkeeper’s reach.

The Quarterback

The less said about Messi’s past two seasons playing in France the better, probably, except for this: he got really good at through balls.

Legs get heavy in your mid-thirties. Even though Messi still dribbles more and better than almost anyone in the world, his take-ons are short bursts to find space now, not a runaway train towards goal. As he has slowed down, he has learned to compensate by dropping deeper into midfield and scanning for runners in front of him, deploying his laser-guided left foot at range.

Luckily for quarterback Messi, PSG had Kylian Mbappe , his successor as the world’s best player, lined up at left wing — and he likes to run. Three seconds into one game last season, Messi took a ball from kick-off and launched it over Lille’s entire team into the path of Mbappe, who lobbed the goalkeeper on one bounce. They did stuff like that for fun. If any of PSG’s front three played any defence, they might have been a pretty decent team.

But Messi had nothing left to win at club level. What he wanted more than anything — what he had always wanted — was to win with Argentina, like Maradona had done. They came achingly close in 2014, losing to a Germany goal in the 113th minute of the World Cup final, but after years of disappointment it looked like Messi might never win an international trophy. Argentina’s talent had never quite fit together in a system and style that suited him.

Finally, in the twilight of his career as a midfield creator, the pieces clicked into place. In what are likely to be the last two international tournaments of his career, the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 World Cup, Argentina had an enforcer to protect him in right midfield, a passing pivot to get him the ball, young strikers in front of him and runners on the left. All Messi had to do was run the show — or, often, walk it.

For years, Messi had stuck out for the way he strolled around the pitch whenever he didn’t have the ball. Coaches explained that this wasn’t just laziness: he was conserving energy to dribble and score goals, sure, but he was also watching how the defence reacted as he wandered around. When the play moved away from him, Messi would shuffle behind, out of sight and mind, and arrive in the space where he wanted to be exactly when he needed to be there.

Maybe he had also been saving himself for the two best tournaments of his life. At the Copa America, a 34-year-old Messi conquered South America with the most goals, most assists, and second-most successful dribbles after Neymar, whose Brazil team Argentina beat in the final to win the first title of Messi’s senior international career.

Then, at the World Cup last winter, they did it again.

His performances in Qatar felt like a career retrospective, pulling together highlights from all the best versions of himself.

There was Messi the dribbler, carrying the ball from deep on the right sideline, not far from where Maradona once took off against England, all the way to the six-yard box for an outlandish assist, beating the young Croatia centre-back Josko Gvardiol at every touch and turn; Messi the false nine, swapping short, quick passes to break through the middle of France’s defence and score in extra time of the final; the wide playmaker, cutting inside to curl the ball into Australia’s net or placing a perfect shot into the corner against Mexico; the quarterback, dribbling across the Netherlands’ midfield and slipping Nahuel Molina a through-ball at an angle no one else could have dreamed of, much less pulled off.

The final came down to penalties — the one part of Messi’s game that had always remained average, strangely human, like a vestigial reminder of the child who had once been too tiny to even shoot at goal. This time, he didn’t miss. He slid the ball into the bottom left corner, just beyond the diving Hugo Lloris’ fingertips, and a few minutes later Argentina were champions.

For a moment amid the celebration, Messi was a small boy again, hoisted on his team-mates’ shoulders, being paraded around the stadium with the World Cup trophy in his hand and pure childish delight on his face.

His gift was that, watching him, you couldn’t help but smile too.

Inter Miami offseason guide: Priorities and how to make the most of Messi in 2024

(Images — photos: Getty Images; design: Sam Richardson)

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John Muller is a Senior Football Writer for The Athletic. He writes about nerd stuff and calls the sport soccer, but hey, nobody's perfect. Follow him at johnspacemuller.substack.com.

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Lionel Messi's Life Story: The Smallest Boy With The Biggest Dreams

Lionel Messi is a well-known name even to those with no interest in sports. Even though he is shorter than most of his teammates, he rises above his opponents with adept skill and a legendary ability to score goals for his team.

Since his childhood, Lionel Messi, who was nicknamed "Leo", dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. But his ambition seemed blown out of proportion when considering his physical limitations and financial restrictions. No one could have predicted that after 17 years and 114 days of non-stop faith and dedication, the Argentinian footballer would be playing for his national team and FC   Barcelona .

Inspired by his family and motivated by his passion , Lionel Messi pushed his boundaries to go from being the "smallest player on the pitch" to one of the greatest athletes of our time .

Posted by Goalcast

Training since childhood

Lionel Andrés Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in the warm city of Rosario, Argentina. He was the third child in a tight-knit, hard-working family who fervently loved football.

Naturally, young Leo developed a passion for football himself. His two older brothers and cousins would constantly go out to play, and as soon as he was able, Leo tagged along. But the rest of the boys were much older than Leo, and were hesitant to let him join in.

His grandmother, who always went with him, insisted they allow him to play too. After watching Leo take his first football steps, she later convinced Leo's mother to buy his first pair of cleats.

At four years old, Leo joined the Grandoli local club, where he was coached by his father. His grandmother watched him almost every day as he dutifully trained to develop his skills. When he was eight, Leo joined the talented  Newell Old Boys,  another Rosario-based club that he had always looked up to.

Football soon became as important as the air he breathed. Messi practiced day in and day out, skipping outings with his friends to train at home before a game. The sport made him inexplicably happy and motivated and he began to dream of becoming a professional footballer.

Diagnosed with an inability to grow

When he was 10, his beloved grandmother passed away. The family was devastated, and her absence affected Messi beyond description. He didn't touch a football for weeks, but his father nudged him to carry on for the club. He returned, aiming to make his grandmother proud.

Over the following year, Leo played incessantly. But as he grew older, his height remained the same. His concerned parents eventually took their 11-year-old son to a doctor, who broke the news that the boy suffered from a growth hormone deficiency. This meant he was physically unable to grow unless he received special treatment, which would span three years and cost $1,500 per month.

Unable to cover such a costly treatment, Messi's father was left with no choice but to request financial support from the  Newell's Old Boys club. The coach couldn't deny the child's exceptional talent, and accepted to pay for the treatment. They handed over a small sum to his embarrassed father, but that was all he ever received from them.

As his father continued to search for a way to cover the treatment, Leo was scouted by the Buenos Aires club River Plate , home of Pablo Aimar . Leo absolutely idolized the dubbed "football genius" and was ecstatic at the offer. However, the club was unwilling to cover Leo's expenses since Argentina was currently undergoing an economic collapse. He was undeniably crushed, but it wasn't long before another offer came in, this time from Spain.

Accepting the offer of a lifetime

Stories of a 13-year-old boy who had similar talents to legendary Argentinian footballer  Diego Maradona  had reached the ears of FC Barcelona 's technical director, Carles Rexach . Intrigued, he sent an offer to the Messi family, proposing a trial where he could see the boy's famed skills for himself. If he passed, the club would cover his medical bills, but on the condition that Messi moved to Spain.

While Leo didn't want to leave his life in Rosario behind, his dream of becoming a professional football player was too important. So, in September 2000, Leo and his family uprooted their lives and flew across the Atlantic to Barcelona.

The family stayed in a hotel while Leo presented himself to the prestigious FC Barcelona Youth team. He was given his uniform and went to the changing room, where he didn't speak a word to his new teammates. They all looked at him in disbelief of how small he was, but after he spent two minutes on the pitch, they were in disbelief of how good he was.

Coach Carles was so impressed that he offered Leo a contract on the only thing he had at hand -- a paper napkin. Leo signed it, opening the door to the life he had always dreamed of.

Rising through the ranks

At 13, Lionel Messi was scoring his way through the system in record time. While still very quiet and noticeably shorter than everyone else on the field, Leo stood out for his deft ability with the ball and unbeatable goal-scoring. He was even named Player of the Tournament.

Behind the scenes of his success on the field was an arduous routine. Every day he practiced and every night he injected growth hormones into his legs. This was Leo's life until he was 14 years old.

In barely a year and a half, he had already reached a level in the academy where he could join his first team. His treatment was finally over, and his body began to grow normally again, ultimately reaching 5' 7".

In 2003, at 16 years old, Messi made his professional debut representing Barcelona in a match versus Porto. His performance surprised his opponents and impressed the technical staff. Even after being kicked down repeatedly, he got up, dribbled past four players, and scored a goal.

His moves were unprecedented, partly due to not being based on strategy, but driven by instinct. Leo's talent won him a spot with Barcelona's senior squad, and he trained daily with Ronaldinho. The Brazilian player called the shy teen his "little brother," and openly recognized that Messi would surpass even him.

Breaking personal and global records

At 17, Messi made his league debut as the youngest player to represent Barcelona in an official competition. His coach watched in awe as the teenager breezed past his opponents, controlling the ball with an almost surreal precision. Barcelona went on to win the UEFA Champions League for the first time in six years.

Leo now viewed his short stature as an advantage on the pitch, enabling a swiftness which soon earned him the nickname "The Atomic Flea" in Spanish media. Although he had to train harder than ever to be strong enough to fend off his older and taller opponents.

At 18, he signed his first contract as a senior team player for FC Barcelona. Shortly after, he made his first international appearance playing for Argentina in a match against Hungary. However, two minutes in, a player grabbed onto his shirt and Leo was sent off for using his arm to shake the player off. He sulked about the foul all the way to the dressing room, where his team later found him in tears.

As the seasons went on, the talented football player kept improving and breaking his own records. At 19, he had already established himself as a world-class football player. His talent as a top scorer led him to win dozens of triumphs for both  FC Barcelona and his national team .  At 22, Messi won the prestigious FIFA World Player of the Year award.

Although he was constantly plagued by serious injuries, by the time he was 24, Lionel Messi had broken the all-time world record for most goals scored in a calendar year. After every goal, he would point two fingers towards the sky, dedicating the triumph to his grandmother.

Resignation, return, and philanthropy

At 27 years old, Messi proudly played for his home country at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He continued to amaze the sports world with his spectacular footwork, creative assists, and eye-opening goals.

However, he was unable to pull Argentina through the final, losing 1-0 to Germany. Even though he earned a Golden Ball, the highest FIFA award for best player, he was utterly disappointed. Leo desperately wanted to bring the cup back to Argentina, as Maradona had done in 1986.

In June 2016, he played for Argentina at the Copa America Centenario 2016. After rigorous training and intense matches, the team made it to the final. The reputed Lionel Messi had his moment of truth as he stepped up to take the defining penalty against Chile. But he missed and Argentina was sent home to disappointed fans.

Crushed by the loss for him and his country, Leo announced his resignation from professional football. His decision was met with a widespread campaign titled "Don't go, Leo!" The Mayor of Buenos Aires even unveiled a statue of Lionel Messi in an effort to change his mind. Eventually, Messi decided he wasn't ready to hang up his shirt just yet and returned to his beloved sport.

Although he has yet to fulfill his goal of bringing home a world cup, Lionel Messi achieved his childhood dream with inspiring strength and dedication.

Dubbed as "Maradona's successor" by the legend himself, Leo continues to make his team and country proud in more ways than one. Off the pitch, he is an advocate for children's rights, funding medical care for the less fortunate and funding youth clubs, including his old football club, Newell's Old Boys .

The boy who was once too small to play with his cousins is now the winner of five Golden Balls, three European Golden Shoes, and is one of the top goal scorers in the world. But the modest Leo finds more joy in simply knowing that his grandmother would be proud. 

You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it. - Lionel Messi

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Woman's Maternal Intuition Saves Her Daughter's Life

We all have an inner voice. Call it a sixth sense, or intuition, or your conscience, or gut instinct. Something that nudges us to do something or say something we wouldn’t normally do.

For one mom, this inner voice manifested as a sudden and overwhelming sense of dread for her daughter's safety. And her maternal intuition? Ended up saving her daughter's life.

Young Woman Receives a Chilling Text From Her Mom

Screenshots of a text conversation.

@mara.lynnny

In a TikTok video viewed more than 42 MILLION times, a young woman named Maralyn shares a series of texts between her and her mom in the wee hours of the morning. She captions the post, "Mother instinct is insane. Rip."

She prefaces the screenshots of the text conversation with a photo of two young women (who she clarifies are not her for privacy reasons) with a text overlay, saying:

"This is why you should ever listen to your mother. My worst nightmare came true that night."

According to the texts, Maralyn is "chilling" at a bar when her mom contacts her asking if she is okay. Apparently, she'd just woken up from a nightmare and wanted to check in.

"I had a bad dream about you, is everything okay???!"

Maralyn reassures her mom that everything is fine. She tells her she and her friend are at a bar and she plans on drinking "a little bit."

As soon as her mom hears she's at a bar she doesn't mince words. "Get out." She quickly follows this up with, "In my dream u we're [sic] literally in a bar. Blood everywhere get out now."

Maralyn tries to play it off, "Mom please," and reiterates that everything is "alright." Her mom isn't having it. Obviously rattled by her nightmare and believing it's more than just a dream, she refuses to back down. She sends another text.

"I'm not gonna say that again, get out!!!!!!!!"

This time, Maralyn listens to her mother.

"Alright we are on our way home now," she texts back.

A Mom's Premonition Saves Her Daughter's Life

www.tiktok.com

The final screenshot of the TikTok video reveals a chilling revelation. It's a clip from a newspaper article titled, "8 people were killed in a shooting attack at a bar in Ecuador, local police say."

It turns out, Maralyn's mother's premonition was "bang on".

Later that night, after Maralyn and her friend left the bar, "attackers rode up in a taxi and two motorcycles." They opened fire. According to the news article , the victims included five men and three women.

Had it not been for her mom and her intuition, Maralyn very well could have been among the victims of that horrible shooting that night.

While not everyone is convinced the post is real, one thing is certain. Maternal intuition is REAL. And you don't need to look any further than the comment section to find the proof.

In response to one skeptic who said, " I don't believe it, " one commenter wrote, " Do believe it because my mom as well would dream of situations and they happen shortly after."

"Mother intuition is REAL!!" wrote another. "So i met my friend and we were in the park sitting and just talking, then my mom called me and told me to be at home at 10 p.m. but we promised earlier that i would be at home at 11 p.m. so i asked her what's wrong, but she got mad and keep telling me to leave that place, i did and next morning I heard that after we left, a fire broke out in that park."

A third shared, "My mom decided to leave work early. As she was parking she saw fire rescue pulling into my elementary (across the street) she got out & ran to the office cause her body told her it was for me. It was."

Commenter after commenter came forward to share their own stories.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and told my husband our son wasn’t breathing. he was in a room across the house. i ran in there, he was BLUE. moms know. my son is alive and well today."

"When i was pregnant w/ my son i had a dream of my dad holding my baby (my dad died) and i lost my son 3 days later when my dad wouldn't give him back to me in my dream."

"Mother’s intuition is very real. My son was in a car accident with his dad halfway across the country I had this horrible feeling and could hear metal on metal. I called until someone answered and my ex said literally seconds after the accident happened I started calling him. I just knew."

"My mom told me her stomach hurt so bad one night she couldn't sleep, the same night I miscarried... I swear mom intuition is crazy."

The Power of Maternal Intuition

Whether or not you believe in premonitions or gut feelings, the bond that exists between a mother and her child is undeniable. And science proves it.

Studies have shown that fetal cells embed in a mother's body forever, colonizing our lungs, spleens, kidneys, thyroids, and skin. Their cells embed in our bone marrow, brains, and hearts. They are, quite literally, a part of us.

So it isn't far-fetched to believe that this connection, rooted in both biology and deep emotional ties, can result in some insanely powerful maternal intuition.

But moms don't need scientific evidence to prove what they already know...when it comes to their children, they always know. (So listen to your mother).

*Featured image contains photo by cottonbro studio

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Abducted Boy Reveals Captor's Identity After 6-Year Ordeal

In October 2017, 11-year-old Alex Batty set off for what was supposed to be a routine family holiday in Spain. But what started as a simple trip turned into a six-year ordeal when Alex was abducted.

He vanished without a trace, leaving his grandmother and legal guardian, Susan Caruana, in anguish. As years passed, the hope of finding Alex began to wane. Who took Alex and why?

Dragged From Place to Place

Little boy smiling.

Greater Manchester Police via AP / 60 Minutes Australia

Alex’s new reality was a far cry from his previous life in Oldham, Greater Manchester. Forced by his captors to live off the grid, he was taken through a nomadic existence, moving between remote communes in Morocco, Spain, and France.

Adopting new identities and changing appearances, they evaded authorities at every turn. For Alex, this meant a childhood devoid of normalcy — no school, no friends, just constant movement and survival. He was compelled to adapt, working odd jobs and living off the grid to avoid detection.

Despite the dire circumstances, Alex clung to the hope of one day returning to a stable and familiar life. Could he find a way to escape this prison existence?

Plotting His Escape

As Alex grew older, the weight of his stolen childhood became unbearable. At 17, the prospect of moving to Finland prompted a critical decision — he had to escape.

Under the cover of night and rain, he set off towards Toulouse, France, but not before he left behind a note to his captors. The note was a key detail that would raise the eyebrows of investigators. Why would a prisoner write a farewell letter to their jailer? Was it a case of Stockholm Syndrome? Or was there more to this story?

With only his skateboard, a warm jacket, and some money, he embarked on a perilous journey. His goal was to find the British consulate and seek help. But as he navigated the vast French countryside, looking behind his shoulder at every turn, the question remained: Would he make it to safety?

He Had Been Walking For 4 Days

Young man wearing a hoodie.

60 Minutes Australia

After two days of walking through the foothills of the Pyrenees, Alex was spotted by Fabien Accidini, a 26-year-old delivery driver.

Initially, Alex gave a false name, but soon revealed his true identity during their conversation. Fabien, moved by Alex’s plight, allowed him to use his phone to text his grandmother. The message was simple yet profound: “I love you, I want to come home.” Fabien then drove Alex to the police station in Revel, where he was finally identified.

How would his family react to his return, and what truths would come to light?

He Revealed His Captors' True Identity

Alex Batty (pictured, right), with his mother, Melanie Batty, who is understood to be pursued by Interpol, and grandfather.

David Batty

Back in the UK, Alex’s return was met with overwhelming emotion from his grandmother, Susan Caruana, who had never given up hope. Their reunion was filled with joy and relief, but the road to recovery was just beginning. As Alex shared the truth about his years in hiding, a shocking revelation emerged — his captors were none other than his own mother, Melanie Batty, and his grandfather, David Batty.

Alex revealed they had abducted him to live a life free from governmental influence and societal norms, driven by their anti-government and anti-vaccination beliefs. The betrayal cut deep, but Alex was determined to move forward. Could he overcome the long-term effects of his extraordinary journey?

Moving Forward — "You Are Capable of Anything"

Alex Batty’s story is a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Despite the hardships and years lost, he emerged stronger and more determined to create a better life.

His journey from abduction to freedom highlights the enduring power of hope and the importance of never giving up, no matter how dire the circumstances. As Alex moves forward, his story serves as an inspiration to others facing their own battles, reminding us all that even in the darkest times, there is always a path to a brighter tomorrow. Alex’s courage and perseverance are a beacon of hope, proving that with strength and determination, we can overcome any obstacle.

“Throughout this journey, I’ve had two main goals: to find a better future for myself and to share my story to inspire others to never give up,” Alex said. “Today, I can proudly say that I’m on the path to achieving both. I hope my experience will remind others that no matter how long it takes or how hard it may be, with determination and by using your voice, you’re capable of anything."

Copyright © 2024 Goalcast

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Lionel Messi Biography Facts, Childhood, Career, Life

Lionel Andres Messi Cuccittini (born June 24, 1987) is an Argentine professional football player, who despite the odds against him, turns things around and brings out a miracle when it’s least expected. He captains and plays forward for Barcelona (Spanish club) as well as the Argentina national team. Ever since he was a kid, he has entertained many with his prodigious skills, amazing dribbles, astounding swiftness and powerful shots. Now a global icon, he still adds to the thrill of the beautiful game of football. We discuss the life of Lionel Messi, fondly referred to as the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) in our Lionel Messi biography facts, childhood, career and personal life. 

Our analysis includes Messi’s rise from being a football enthusiast at a tender age to now becoming the modern-age face-of-the-game, and how he overcame the seemingly insurmountable challenges that stood between him and his dreams.

Table of Contents

Lionel Messi Biography Quick Facts, Age

Here are some quick biography facts you should know about the Argentine professional football player.

Lionel Messi Childhood & Early Life

Lionel Andres Messi Cuccittini was given birth to on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina, to a steel factory manager, Jorge Messi and his wife Celia Cuccittini. Messi was the third of four children they gave birth to. He grew up in a family where the game of football was adored.

At a tender age, he played with his elder brothers before joining a local club, Grandoli, before moving on to Newell’s Old Boys. At Grandoli, Messi was coached by his father, but his grandmother accompanied him to his matches as well as training. He was thus affected by her. His unique style of celebration which involves looking up and pointing to the sky is a tribute to his late grandmother.

Messi’s dream of becoming a professional footballer was threatened when he clocked 10 years. He was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. As a result of his family’s inability to bear the expense of his treatment, they resorted to football clubs who saw Messi as a potential to bear the cost. After several setbacks, Messi’s treatment cost was paid for by Barcelona. After his transfer to Barcelona, he did not make appearances regularly in matches due to transfer issues with Newell as well as the unusual signing of foreign plays by European Clubs. After joining the Royal Spanish Football Federation, he began playing for Barcelona. Upon completion of his growth hormone deficiency treatment, he became a force to reckon with in the Barcelona youth team.

Lionel Messi Club Career

Fc barcelona.

Messi progressed through the ranks of Barcelona’s junior team, leading to his move to the senior team. He debuted for five teams in a season. During the international break, Messi was among the few players who helped strengthen the first team in the absence of the players. Messi finally debuted for the senior team at the age of 16. Messi’s wondrous performance earned him the friendship of Barcelona’s star Ronaldinho, who enabled him to have a smooth transition into the first team. His remarkable antics earned him a juicy contract in 2004 set to expire in 2012, the first professional contract he signed, had a buyout clause of 30 million euros which increased to 80 million euros.

In the 2004–2005 season, he became a regular starter in Barcelona’s B-team. However, he was a substitute player in the A-team, debuting for them in the league on October 16 against Espanyol. Messi signed a new contract with Barcelona as a senior team player on his 18th birthday. The contract was set to expire in 2010, with a buyout clause of 150 million euros. Messi caught the attention of European top clubs, one of such Inter Milan indicated interest in Messi, offering to triple his wages as well as pay his 150 million euros’ buyout clause. However, Messi opted to stay. In September of that season, his contract was updated and was set to expire in 2014. After acquiring Spanish citizenship Messi began playing alongside Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho forging a powerful attacking trio.

During the 2006–2007 season, at the age of 19, Messi became one of the best players in the world. Despite suffering injuries, Messi proved his similarity to Argentina’s legend Diego Maradona after several comparisons. A notable event which speaks of this truth was the 2006–2007 Copa del Rey semi-final against Getafe, where he scored a goal similar to Maradona’s 1986 FIFA World Cup goal dubbed as the Goal of the Century. Following the decline of Ronaldinho, Messi became Barcelona’s new star, with Spanish media calling him “Messiah”. He emerged second third in the 2007 Ballon d’Or and second in the FIFA World Player of the Year Award. Following the departure of Ronaldinho, Messi was given the no.10 jersey and signed a new contract with an annual salary of 7.8 million euros, Barcelona’s highest.

In 2008, he came second in the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year Award.

He However won the Ballon d’Or and FIFA Player of the year in 2009, at the age of 22. That season Messi had a successful campaign, winning the second consecutive La Liga title.

In 2010, Messi won the inaugural FIFA Ballon d’Or despite his failure at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Messi finished the 2010–2011 season as Barcelona’s all-time single-season highest scorer and the first player in Spain to pass the 50-goal benchmark. Thanks to his wonderful performance, Messi created a reputation for himself as a creator (no. 8), a scorer (no. 9) and an assistant (no. 10). He received the 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or award as well as the inaugural UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. Due to his numerous achievements, Messi was regarded as one of the best in the history of the game.

Messi’s incredible form continued, in 2012, he was bestowed with the Guinness book of record title for most goals scored in a calendar year as well as the FIFA Ballon d’Or Award.

In the 2013–2014 season, Messi signed a new contract with Barcelona which will see him at Camp Nou until 2018. After Messi sustained an injury and deemed unfit for Barcelona’s champions league match against Bayern Munich, the Catalan Giant were defeated 7-0 on aggregate. Barcelona was heavily criticized for their dismal performance which shows their dependence on the Argentine star. His campaign that season was the worst he had in five years. He signed a new contract with Barcelona which saw his salary increase from 20 million euros to 36 million euros. Under the leadership of new coach, Luis Enrique. Messi became La Liga’s all-time top-scorer. He came second in the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or awards for the second time in a row. Messi established an attacking trio with teammates Suarez and Neymar which prove to be deadly to opponents. At the end of the season, he received the UEFA Best Player in Europe.

In the 2015–2016 season, Messi became the youngest person to make 100 appearances in the champions league. Messi also helped Barcelona claim the 2015 Club World Cup Final, where he was awarded the tournament’s Silver Ball. Messi emerged a runner-up to Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2016 Ballon d’Or award as well as the 2016 Best FIFA Men’s Player Award, he also claimed the Pichichi and European Golden Boot.

Messi also had a spectacular and incredible performance in the 2017–2018 season, but not spectacular enough to earn him the Ballon d’Or award. Messi was handed the captaincy in the 2018–2019 season following the departure of Andres Iniesta.

Lionel Messi National Team Career

The ace footballer has scored 65 goals in 128 appearances for the Argentina National team. He, however, has failed to extend his successful run with Barcelona to the La Albiceleste. Though he has always put up a good performance, every time he leads the La Albiceleste to a tournament, they end up crashing out in the quarter-final, semi-final or final.

In the 2006 World Cup, Messi who was pretty young was part of the Argentine squad who were knocked out in the quarter-final. Eight years later, on South-American soil, Messi led the La Albiceleste to a wonderful run in the world Cup before seeing his World Cup dream dashed after a late lone strike by their German opponents. The Copa America tournament has also been the same, emerging runners-up successively.

Lionel Messi Family & Personal Life

Lionel Messi is known to be an introvert as well as a reserved individual.

He began his relationship with his wife who he had known since the age of 5, at the age of 20. They got married in Rosario, in 2017. They gave birth to their first son Thiago in 2012, their second Mateo in 2015 and last Ciro in 2018.

Messi has a tight-knitted relationship with his mother, Celia whose face he tattooed on his hand. Messi’s father has been his agent since the age of 14, while his elder brother manages his daily schedule and publicity, his mother and brother, Matias runs his charitable organization, The Lionel Messi Foundation. Since 2010, Messi has been a goodwill ambassador for the UNICEF.

Messi also supports grassroots football. He has an investment with youth football team Sarmiento, based in Rosario.

Messi has also had his fair share of tax evasion charges. In 2013, he was investigated for benefiting in a network of offshore companies to evade taxes. Despite pleading ignorance for the tax evasion charges, Messi was found guilty of tax evasion along with his father and was sentenced to a suspended 21-month prison term and fined 1.7 million euros and 1.4 million euros.

Lionel Messi Highlights, Achievements & Awards

Tournaments won.

• U-20 World Cup champion (2005)
• Spanish Super Cup (Supercopa) (2005/06, 2006/07, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, 2013/14, 2016/17, 2018/19)
• Spanish Cup (Copa del Rey) (2008/09, 2011/12, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17,2017/18)
• FIFA Club World Cup (2009, 2011, 2015)
• UEFA Supercup (2009/10, 2011/12, 2015/16)
• Olympics Medalist (2008/09)
• Spanish Champion (La Liga) (2004/05 2005/06, 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2012/13, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2017/18)
• UEFA Champions League (2005/06, 2008/09, 2010/11, 2014/15)

Individual Awards

• Golden Boot (2016/17)
• Striker of the Year (2014/15)
• Player of the Year (2014 World Cup, 2014/15 La Liga, 2015 Copa America)
• UEFA Best Player in Europe (2009, 2011, 2015)
• Top-scorer (2008/09, 2010/11 & 2013/14 Copa del Rey, 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, 2013/14 & 2014/15 UEFA Champions League, 2009/10, 2010/11 & 2011/12 Supercopa, 2009/10, 2011/12, 2012/13 & 2016/17 La Liga, 2011 FIFA Club World Cup)
• Top-10 Highest-Paid Football/Soccer Players 2019
• Top-20 Best Football Academies In The World 2019

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Lionel Messi Biography

Birthday: June 24 , 1987 ( Cancer )

Born In: Rosario, Argentina

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Nick Name: Atomic Flea

Also Known As: Lionel Andrés Messi, Leo Messi

Age: 36 Years , 36 Year Old Males

Spouse/Ex-: Antonella Roccuzzo (m. 2017)

father: Jorge Messi

mother: Celia María Cuccittini

siblings: Maria Sol Messi, Matias Messi , Rodrigo Messi

children: Ciro Messi Roccuzz, Mateo Messi, Thiago Messi

Quotes By Lionel Messi Football Players

Height: 5'7" (170 cm ), 5'7" Males

Ancestry: Argentine Spanish

City: Rosario, Argentina

You wanted to know

What are some of lionel messi's notable career achievements.

Lionel Messi has won multiple FIFA Ballon d'Or awards, numerous La Liga titles with FC Barcelona, and holds the record for most goals scored in a calendar year.

Can Lionel Messi speak English?

Yes, Lionel Messi can speak English, although he is more comfortable conducting interviews and interactions in Spanish.

How many children does Lionel Messi have?

Lionel Messi has three children with his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo.

Does Lionel Messi have any tattoos?

Yes, Lionel Messi has several tattoos on his body, including dedications to his family and his personal beliefs.

What is Lionel Messi's playing style?

Lionel Messi is known for his exceptional dribbling skills, vision on the field, and ability to score goals from various positions.

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Introduction

(born 1987). Argentine-born soccer (association football) player Lionel Messi was named Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) world player of the year eight times (2009–12, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2023). In 2022 he helped lead Argentina to the World Cup title.

Early Years

Lionel Andrés Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. He started playing soccer as a boy and in 1995 joined the youth team of Newell’s Old Boys (a Rosario-based top-division soccer club). Messi’s skills garnered the attention of prestigious clubs on both sides of the Atlantic. At age 13 Messi and his family relocated to Barcelona, Spain. He joined FC Barcelona ’s under-14 team. He quickly graduated through the higher-level teams until at age 16 he was given his informal debut with FC Barcelona in a friendly match (nontournament game).

Record-Setting Club Career

In the 2004–05 season Messi, then 17 years old, became the youngest official player and goal scorer in the Spanish La Liga (the country’s highest soccer division). Though only 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 meters) tall and weighing 148 pounds (67 kilograms), he was strong, well-balanced, and versatile on the field. He became known for his keen passing and precise ball control. In 2005 he was granted Spanish citizenship. The next year Messi and FC Barcelona won the Champions League (the European club championship) title.

By 2008 Messi was one of the most dominant players in the world. He finished second to Manchester United ’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the voting for the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year. In early 2009 Messi capped off a spectacular 2008–09 season by helping Barcelona capture the club’s first “treble” (winning three major European club titles in one season). The team won the La Liga championship, the Copa del Rey (Spain’s major domestic cup), and the Champions League title. He scored 38 goals in 51 matches during that season. He bested Ronaldo in the balloting for FIFA World Player of the Year honors by a record margin as well. During the 2009–10 season Messi scored 34 goals in domestic games as Barcelona repeated as La Liga champions. He earned the Golden Shoe award as Europe’s leading scorer. He was also named the 2010 world player of the year (the award was renamed the FIFA Ballon d’Or that year).

Messi led Barcelona to La Liga and Champions League titles the following season, which helped him capture an unprecedented third consecutive world player of the year award. In March 2012 he netted his 233rd goal for Barcelona. It made him the club’s all-time leading scorer in La Liga play. In 2011–12 he guided the team to another Copa del Rey win. He scored 73 goals in all competitions. With that feat he broke Gerd Müller’s 39-year-old record for single-season goals in a major European soccer league. Messi’s landmark season led to his being named the 2012 world player of the year. He was the first player to win the honor four times.

Messi helped Barcelona capture another treble during the 2014–15 season. He led the team with 43 goals scored over the course of the campaign, which resulted in his fifth world player of the year honor. He scored 41 goals across all competitions for Barcelona in 2015–16. The club won the La Liga title and the Copa del Rey during that season.

Messi scored 53 goals for Barcelona in 2016–17, leading the team to another Copa del Rey title. In 2017–18 he scored 45 goals, and Barcelona won the La Liga–Copa del Rey double once again. Messi scored 51 goals across all domestic competitions in 2018–19 as Barcelona won another La Liga championship. In December 2019 he won his sixth career world player of the year honor. In the 2020–21 season Barcelona claimed the Copa del Rey title.

Messi became a free agent in 2021. He left Barcelona having become the leading goal scorer in La Liga’s history, with 474 goals. Later that year he signed with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) of Ligue 1, the French top-division league. At the end of the year Messi received the world player of the year award for the seventh time. Messi teamed with fellow stars Neymar and Kylian Mbappé to guide PSG to Ligue 1 titles in 2021–22 and 2022–23. In June 2023 Messi announced that he was leaving PSG to relocate to the United States to play for Inter Miami CF of Major League Soccer.

National Team Star

Despite his professional success in Spain and France, Messi’s ties with his homeland remained strong. He was a key member of various Argentine national teams from 2005. He played on Argentina’s victorious 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship squad and represented the country in the 2006 World Cup . He scored two goals in five matches as Argentina swept to the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Messi helped Argentina reach the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals, where the team was eliminated by Germany for the second consecutive time in World Cup play. At the 2014 World Cup, Messi put on a dazzling display. He scored four goals and almost single-handedly propelled an offense-deficient Argentina team through the group stage and into the knockout rounds. Argentina then advanced to the World Cup final for the first time in 24 years. Argentina lost that contest 1–0 to Germany, but Messi nevertheless won the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s best player.

During the 2016 Copa América Centenario tournament, Messi netted his 55th international goal, thereby breaking Gabriel Batistuta’s Argentine scoring record. After Argentina was defeated in the Copa final, Messi announced that he was quitting the national team. Less than two months later, however, he reversed his decision and rejoined the team. At the 2018 World Cup, Messi made only one goal and two assists as Argentina managed to reach the knockout stage. The team was then eliminated by France. Argentina finished third at the 2019 Copa América, but Messi led the team to victory in the tournament two years later.

Ahead of the 2022 World Cup Messi announced that this World Cup—his fifth—would be his last. Messi scored 7 goals in the tournament, pushing his number of career World Cup goals to 13. That made him Argentina’s all-time leading World Cup goal scorer. Argentina shockingly lost its opening match of the tournament to Saudi Arabia, but the team recovered and went undefeated thereafter. Argentina met France, the defending World Cup champions, in the final. The match became an instant classic. France twice came back to tie the game before Argentina won on penalty kicks. Messi scored two goals in the final to lead Argentine scorers. He was the first player in history to have netted a goal in the group stage, round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and final of a single World Cup. Messi was awarded the Golden Ball for a second time, becoming the first two-time winner of the prize. Messi’s outstanding play in the tournament helped earn him his eighth career world player of the year award in 2023.

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Lionel Messi

• Born June 24 , 1987 · Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina
• Birth name Lionel Andrés Messi
• The G.O.A.T
• Height 5′ 6½″ (1.69 m)
• Lionel Messi is a football player from Argentina who plays for Inter Miami. He has won the Ballon D'Or, the annual award given to the best player in the world, 8 times, 2022 FIFA World Cup winner and an Olympic gold medal winner in 2008. He was born in 1987 in Rosario, Argentina's third-biggest city. He showed an enormous aptitude for football and was in the youth teams for Newell's Old Boys, his local team. Faced with mounting medical expenses to treat a growth hormone condition, Messi's family accepted an offer to move the 13-year-old prodigy to FC Barcelona, who would pay for his treatment. Messi has gone on to become one of the most decorated players in football history and has broken countless records for his club and his country. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Amazon Studios
• Lionel Messi is an Argentine professional footballer. He plays as a forward and captain both Inter Miami C.F. and the Argentina National Football Team . Considered the best player in the world and regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record eight Ballon d'Or awards and a record six European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with FC Barcelona , where he has won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League (1992) titles and six Copas del Rey. Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (474), a La Liga and European league season (50), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (1992) (8). He has scored over 900 senior career goals for club and country. An Argentine international, Messi is his country's all-time leading goalscorer. At youth level, he won the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2005 (2005) , finishing the tournament with both the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and an Olympic gold medal at the Beijing 2008: Games of the XXIX Olympiad (2008) . After his senior debut in August 2005, Messi became the youngest Argentine to play and score in a 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany (2006) , and reached the final of the 2007 Copa América, where he was named young player of the tournament. As the squad's captain from August 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals: the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil (2014) , for which he won the Golden Ball, and the Copa América 2015 (2015) and Copa América Centenario (2016) . After announcing his international retirement in 2016, he reversed his decision and led his country to qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia (2018) , and a third-place finish at the Copa América Brasil 2019 (2019) . In the 1/8 finals match of 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia (2018) against the future winner of the tournament, France National Football Team , Messi gave two assists, but the Argentines lost with a score of 3:4 and ended their participation in the tournament. On July 10, 2021 the Argentina National Football Team beat Brazil in the final of Copa America 2021 (2021) with a score of 1:0. Thus, Lionel Messi won his first trophy with the national team. He also became the tournament's top scorer (shared with Luis Fernando Díaz from Colombia). In the final match of 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar (2022) against France in the first half, Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot. Regular time ended with the score 2:2, at the beginning of the second extra period Messi put Argentina ahead. However, Kylian Mbappé managed to level the score from the penalty spot, scoring his third goal of the game (3:3). In the penalty shoot-out, Messi was the first to beat for Argentines and converted his shot. As a result, the Argentines won the series with a score of 4:2 and became three-time world champions. Messi was named the best player of the match and was also named the best player of the tournament overall. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Tango Papa
• Spouse Roccuzzo Antonela (June 30, 2017 - present) (3 children)
• Children Thiago Messi Mateo Messi Ciro Messi
• Parents Jorge Horacio Messi Celia Cuccittini
• Relatives Marcela Cuccittini (Aunt or Uncle) Emanuel Biancucchi (Cousin) Rodrigo Messi (Sibling) María Sol Messi (Sibling)
• Short stature
• Number 10 shirt for FC Barcelona and Argentina
• Won the gold medal with Argentina Olympic Football Team at the 2008 Olympic Games.
• Won 8 Ballon d'Or/FIFA Ballon d'Or (2009-2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023), the FIFA World Player of the Year (2009) and The Best FIFA Men's Player (2019).
• Won the 2005 FIFA U20 World Cup with Argentina National Under-20 Football Team . He was the leading scorer and the best player of the competition.
• Is the second Argentine to win a Ballon d'Or. The first being Alfredo Di Stéfano .
• 778 appearances for FC Barcelona (2004-2021); scored 672 goals.
• Sometimes you have to accept you can't win all the time.
• There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game.
• You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.
• You have to show up in the World Cup, and in the World Cup anything can happen.
• I always thought I wanted to play professionally, and I always knew that to do that I'd have to make a lot of sacrifices. I made sacrifices by leaving Argentina, leaving my family to start a new life. I changed my friends, my people. Everything. But everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream.

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Lionel Messi

Football Player (1987-)

Lionel Messi is often considered not only the best active football player in the world but also one of the greatest of all time, alongside legends such as Maradona and Pelé. In addition to being awarded the prestigious Ballon d’Or prize a record five times, Leo has become the all-time top goalscorer for both Argentina’s national team and FC Barcelona, the mega club he has helped to win more than 30 championships. While Messi is a household name across most of the globe, the superstar forward also surprises with his relatively low profile off the field.

Lionel Messi Biography

«I prefer to win titles with the team ahead of individual awards or scoring more goals than anyone else. I’m more concerned about being a good person than being the best footballer in the world. Besides, in the end, when all this is over, what can you take with you? My hope is that, when I retire, I’m remembered for being a good guy.»  (Extract from interview with Spanish newspaper “El País” in 2012)

Lionel Andrés Messi (aka Leo, Lio, La Pulga [The Flea], La Pulga Atómica [The Atomic Flea], El Messías ) was born on June 24, 1987 in the Argentine city of Rosario. He was raised with three siblings in a working-class neighbourhood known as Barrio General Las Heras. At the age of 5, he started playing for the Grandoli, a small local club in which his family was actively involved. By the time Leo turned 8, he was already playing for the youth academy of Newell’s Old Boys, a major professional squad based in Rosario.

Recognizably smaller than most of the kids in his age group, Lionel Messi was eventually diagnosed as suffering from a growth hormone deficiency. His father unsuccessfully turned to several Argentine football clubs seeking financial aid for an expensive treatment, which almost jeopardized the promising career he envisaged for Leo.

Over the following years, Lionel Messi continued to break record after record to emerge as the top class player for Barcelona and the world at large. Messi’s personal best campaign statistically to date was the 2011–12 season, in which he set the Spanish and European records for most goals scored in a single season, while establishing himself as Barça’s all-time top scorer in official competitions. Following each appearance, the Argentine left-footed star proved to be versatile enough to play anywhere across the frontline and to mesmerize defenders with a mix of skill and pace.

At the international level, Lionel Messi chose to represent homeland Argentina, rather than Spain, despite his dual citizenship. He made his debut with Argentina’s senior team in 2004 and has been the squad’s captain since 2011. Titles won include FIFA’s U-20 World Cup in 2005 and the Olympic Gold Medal in 2008. In June 2016, Leo became Argentina’s all-time leading goalscorer, surpassing Gabriel Batistuta’s previous mark of 54 goals.

Off the field, Lionel Messi has been actively involved in charitable efforts aimed at vulnerable children, partly in response to his own medical difficulties as a child. Apart from collaborating with UNICEF with funds and personally as a goodwill ambassador, he also runs the Leo Messi Foundation, which supports children in health care, education, and sport.

Lionel Messi is married to fellow Rosario native Antonela Roccuzzo. They have known each other since Leo was five years old, but only began going out in 2008. The couple has since had three sons: Thiago (2012), Mateo (2015), and Ciro (2018).

Messi Goals and Other Career Stats

Games and goals per team*.

* As of 30 June 2018. Barcelona senior club games and goals counted for the domestic league only.

TITLES WON (34*)

* As of 30 June 2018. With Argentina’s national team, Messi has also been the runner-up in four championships: Copa America 2007, FIFA World Cup 2014, Copa America 2015 and Copa America Centenario 2016.

MAIN AWARDS AND INDIVIDUAL RECORDS

* The Ballon d’Or (French for “Golden Ball”) is an annual football award presented by France Football magazine . It has been granted since 1956, although between 2010 and 2015 it temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was known as the FIFA Ballon d’Or. Originally, only those players with European citizenship were in contention for the Ballon d’Or, but in 1995 it was expanded to include all players at European clubs and in 2007 to all players from around the world.

Best Lionel Messi Goals (2007-2017)

Tributes to Messi

In buenos aires, argentina.

Statue in Recoleta ( Av. Pres. Manuel Quintana 600 , Recoleta, City of Buenos Aires) By the doorstep of iconic Porteño cafe La Biela lies a colorful Messi statue. He is depicted pointing his fingers towards the sky, Leo’s typical goal dedication to his grandmother.

Statue in Puerto Madero (Costanera Sur, Puerto Madero, City of Buenos Aires)   Lionel Messi’s statue was unveiled in 2016 in the so-called “Paseo de la Gloria” (Passage of Glory) along promenade Costanera Sur, in the Buenos Aires district of Puerto Madero. The passage pays homage to several of Argentina’s sporting greats. Unfortunately, some statues — including Messi’s — have been targeted by vandals.

In Rosario, Argentina

Murals in Rosario   Suprisingly enough, the city that is home to both Lionel Messi and Che Guevara lacks decent tributes to its prodigal sons. As refers to Leo there are some murals in his childhood neighborhood, including an artpiece by Paulo Consentino on a wall outside his school, as well as paintings close to his old house and on the walls of a soccer field where he used to play.

Restaurant in Rosario ( Rioja 411 , Rosario) Bar VIP Rosario is a well-known, well-located restaurant in Rosario, owned by Jorge Messi, Leo’s father. The place serves typical Argentine meals and features a couple of photomurals of el crack .

in barcelona, SPAIN

Mural in Barcelona (Parc de les Tres Xemeneies, Poble Sec, Barcelona)   In 2016, a colourful mural popped up in Barcelona in celebration of Lionel Messi’s fifth Ballon d’Or . A few years earlier, in 2012, another Messi-themed grafitti had been painted on the same wall on occasion of Leo’s third Golden Ball.

Re s taurant in Barcelona  (Enric Granados 86, Barcelona, Spain) A tribute brought by Messi and his siblings to their hometown, Rosario, “Bellavista del Jardín del Norte” is a beautiful restaurant that resembles a small village, with its own church, plaza, cinema, and barbershop. It serves up an interesting mix of international cuisines, from Spain’s most evocative tapas to Lionel Messi’s favorite Argentine dish, “milanesa napolitana a caballo” (breaded veal accompanied by ham, cheese, egg and tomato sauce).

International

Wax Statues   Lionel Messi has been immortalized in wax in several Madame Tussaud’s museums across the globe, including London, New York, Berlin, Amsterdam, Beijing, Tokyo and Wuhan.  In New York, Messi’s figure is placed in an interactive simulator where visitors can practice their best kick in a virtual soccer arena.

Cinema  Messi (2014 film) is a documentary about Leo’s life, directed by cult Spanish filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia. On the other hand, Messi (2017 film) is a movie by Bengali director Riingo Banerjee, in which Lionel Messi’s remembrance serves as a metaphor for the intense passions aroused by football.

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Sorry, there was a problem., messi: the definitive biography fully updated to include messi's first season at psg audible audiobook – unabridged.

• Book Description
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'I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentine football and his name is Messi' Diego Maradona FULLY UPDATED TO INCLUDE THE 2022 WORLD CUP TRIUMPH & MESSI'S TRANSFER TO INTER MIAMI As Lionel Messi raised the World Cup triumphantly into the air, the world watched on in awe. Messi's final peak conquered; his final dream achieved. It was the fairy tale ending to a glittering career. Yet despite delivering Argentina their third World Cup, Messi's time at Paris Saint-Germain came to a dramatic conclusion, and Miami awaited the Argentinian legend. Guillem Balagué has had unprecedented access to Messi's inner circle including the player himself: his coaches, team-mates and family. From tracing the origins of Messi's precocious talent in Rosario, Argentina, to chronicling his peerless seventeen-season career at Barcelona, and his tumultuous Parisian adventure, Guillem takes us behind-the-scenes of Messi's World Cup triumph and his long-desired move to the MLS. This is an epic, authoritative and compelling account of an enigmatic footballing genius. 'I can tell my grandkids one day that I coached Lionel Messi' Pep Guardiola

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

About the Author

Guillem Balague is a Spanish football journalist, prizewinning author and pundit, first for Sky Sports and now for BBC Radio 5 Live. He is the author of A SEASON ON THE BRINK - A PORTRAIT OF RAFA BENITEZ'S LIVERPOOL (2006); the first biography of PEP GUARDIOLA (2012); MESSI (2013); CRISTIANO RONALDO (2015), the Football Book of the Year at the Cross Sports Book Awards; and the bestselling Brave New World - INSIDE POCHETTINO'S SPURS (2017). He is chairman of non-league Biggleswade FC, and lives in Hitchin in Hertfordshire. http://www.guillembalague.com/en/home https://twitter.com/GuillemBalague https://www.facebook.com/guillembalague

• Listening Length 27 hours and 53 minutes
• Author Guillem Balague
• Narrator Peter Kenny
• Audible release date June 25, 2020
• Language English
• Publisher Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• ASIN B088ZVFFTZ
• Version Unabridged
• Program Type Audiobook
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Lionel Messi, one of the world's greatest football players, is an example I gentle conduct. Friends, Messi's life story is also one of a person who overcomes all the challenges on his path. Some information about Lionel Messi is as follows - Name (Real Name) Lionel Messi Profession Argentine professional footballer Nationality Argentina Professional debut in football August 4, 2004, against Hungary jersey number 10 Zodiac Aquarius Coach/Mentor Salvador Aparicio, Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola Position Forward Hometown Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina Religion Roman Catholic Date of Birth 24 June 1987 Name of the father Jorge Horacio Messi Name of the mother Celia Maria Katchitini Name of the brothers Mattias Messi and Rodrigo Messi are their brothers. Name of the sister Maria Sol Messi Name of his wife Antonella Roccuzzo Date of marriage June 30, 2017 Messi son name Thiago Messi and Matteo Messi Life and Struggle Despite being from a middle-class family and being born in Argentina on June 24, 1987, Lionel Messi frequently had a difficult upbringing. His mother was a working woman and his father, Jorge Messi, was a steel mill manager. Messi's parents were passionate football supporters, which led to their kids developing a love for the sport at an early age. It may surprise you that Messi first showed his love and enthusiasm for football at a very young age. Messi's father encouraged him to attend a local football training club at the age of just five after noticing the young player's ability so that he could learn the game well and develop into a massive football star. Messi's father would teach him personally after seeing that his son had a desire and talent for the game. George maintained Leo's training; He performed as a model dad by doing everything he could to raise his son despite financial constraints. At the age of just 8, Lionel Messi was accepted into the football team known as the New Wales Old Boys because of his outstanding soccer skill. Where everyone turned to look at him because of his extraordinary abilities while playing, Messi's charm drew the interest of significant and prominent football teams at such a young age. He was a huge football fan. He used to work on himself constantly. Every day, he was getting better. He started playing when he was just eight years old, during that very young age when he got the football in his strike and the players who were playing beside him. It would have taken around 15 to 20 minutes to take the football away from him. The local populace used to throw money for joy when they saw his game. His potential as a football player was evident to his family. He was really content with his life. He was enjoying it immensely. He wanted to play football professionally when he grew up, so he represented his country. Because of Messi, the Argentinean government was compelled to pass a novel law a few years ago. As a result, no parent in Argentina was permitted to name their child Messi. Due to Messi's excessive fame, the administration believed Messi's name would be given to many kids, and identity issues might result from that. It was a future-focused decision. The government officially announced this news. Right now, the name Messi cannot be used as a middle name for children. Messi's name and resume are well-known to everybody. But the suffering Messi endured made him Messi. His worldwide fan base is in the millions. Over the years, football players and spectators have looked up to this outstanding and skilled player. Barcelona FC now has distinct fame due to its outstanding football success. His football skills are amazing. He gets large audiences to watch his games. Because of his football expertise, the audience is intrigued by Messi's background and success story. Naturally, Messi was not without his flaws. But he never stopped working to overcome them. He is currently one of the most well-known, highly compensated, and elite football players in the world due to his efforts. Family and Early Years of Lionel Messi On June 24, 1987, Lionel Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina. He is also known as Lionel Andres Messi by full name . Messi's admirers jokingly refer to him as Leo, atomic flea, la pulga, la pulga Atomica, and Macedonia. His father, Jorge Horacio Messi, was a manager who worked at a steel mill. His mother, Celia Maria Cuccittini, was a housewife. Messi has two brothers, Rodrigo Messi is the older brother, and Matisse Messi is the name of his younger brother. He also has a sister Maria Sol Messi. Even though Massey's home was cash-strapped but his father remained adamant. He said he would provide his child with every amenity that would advance him. Messi loved to play with his elder brothers when he was younger. Messi loved spending time with his grandma as a youngster, who was always there to support him. He also received his first football uniform at the insistence of his grandma. At that time, his grandma wished for Messi to play football. At age 4, he became the first member of the neighborhood football team Granddoli. His grandmother always motivated him by saying "One day, Leo, you'll be the best football player in the world." Messi's Battle At the age of 4, Messi joined his first football team. Then, at 8, he began participating in football games for Newell's Old Boys in Rosario, his hometown. Football had already surpassed all the importance for Messi at this point. He once maintained an unbroken practice schedule day and night. Football had been a source of inspiration for him. When Messi was ten years old, his grandmother passed away. Messi had jolted. For a few days, he didn't even touch the football. But afterward, persuaded by his father, he picked up football again. Even when Messi goals today in a football match, he lifts both hands in memory of his grandma . Messi used to work as a storage server of tea and coffee during his spare time, after his football practice. So that he can also aid his family financially. Messi had a significant obstacle to overcome at the age of 10 when he was detected with Growth Hormone Deficiency. It was his significant ailment at the time of his diagnosis. It had halted his height's progress. The procedures and treatments needed to treat his disease that was very expensive. Messi's family was not as well-off financially for him to bear the cost of such an expensive therapy. Despite the ruckus, Messi never felt defeated or frustrated. Even though his playing was always of the highest caliber compared to other youngsters his age, his height was not growing, but he was still doing quite well at football. Messi's medical bills are around $1000per per month, which was covered by insurance for two years. Messi, though, never gave up. He never allowed his spirits to falter, not even in the face of difficulties. He also never gave up and made an effort to advance constantly, and Messi never lost hope after facing several hardships in life. Personal Life Messi has a longterm girlfriend named Antonella Roccuzzo. She is a model and a trained dietitian by profession. He had a long-term romantic connection with her, and they supported each other in all thick and thins. They have two children together. Thiago Messi (was born on November 2, 2012) and their second child Mato Messi Ruccuzzo( was born on September 11, 2015). These two were not married th the time they became parents. Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo were partners for several years before getting married on June 30, 2017. Before their marriage, they had both these kids. They had a daughter after getting married and named her Ciro Messi Roccuzzo. Initial Achievements Messi made his debut in the year 2000 and 2005 game seasons, breaking the record for the youngest player to ever play in the league and becoming the league's youngest goal scorer . Messi never looked back after that. Messi played for Argentina in the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2006 and the Argentine Olympic football squad; Messi won his first international honor-an Olympic gold medal-in Beijing in 2008. Messi had a wealth of talent, and everyone used to go wild seeing him play his game with such precision. Messi had a total of 49 goals scored during the 2009 campaign. One of Maradona's admirers of Messi exclaimed, "I see myself in Messi." Messi created history by scoring 200 La Liga goals at the age of just 25. He also made history by being the first football player to win the Tea Drinks award twice in a row. Lionel Messi makes his FC Barcelona Debut. Barcelona had heard about Messi and his battle. Someone informed FC Barcelona director Carles Rexach about his unbeatable talent in football. Then he added a stipulation that only applied if this guy proved to be talented. Therefore, all of his costs will be covered. He must, however, depart Argentina and travel to Spain. Messi's parents relocated to Barcelona. Carles Rexach saw Messi's game. He believed Messi had the talent and the drive to excel as a football player. Nevertheless, despite everything, nobody wanted to invest much money in a 13-year-old kid due to the exorbitant cost of Messi's care and other expenses. After significant consideration, he chose to back Messi. He didn't change anything and scribbled the contract on a napkin. Additionally, he made the offer to handle Messi's medical care. Messi joined the youth academy of the Barcelona team and is now credited for developing the talented footballer via training. Lionel Messi made the correct choice to take advantage of this opportunity. When he entered the club's changing room for the first time. Everyone was so dubious due to his diminutive height. After a couple of sessions, that uncertainty became a surprise. Messi advanced fast in Barcelona's framework. He started polishing his skills under the proper guidance. His therapy was also ongoing at the time. On one leg, injections would be given in every seven days. The following week on the opposite leg. Lionel Messi - First International Match for Barcelona Club First International Game for Barcelona Club, Lionel Messi earned his on-field appearance in 2003 when he was 16 years old and started playing for the Barça team. The Porto club was ahead of them. He was delighted by the instructor when he appeared before the crowd in his very first game. He was relentlessly pushed, yet he still scored sixes on four defenders. At the tender age of 18, he made his first appearance for his country against Hungary on August 17, 2005. He didn't look back after that. He kept raising the banner of achievement. Maradona, a legendary Argentine player, saw Messi play. He then declared- "I'm aware of that player. Who will play Argentine football in my place? Messi is his name. I can see hints of myself in his game". Lionel Messi Has Great Footballer Ronaldo's Support One of the most favorable events for Messi was when he had the opportunity to work alongside a great player like Ronaldo. Messi's performance at the time blew Ronaldo away. He also mentioned Messi that One day, this youngster will exceed me. Together, they contributed to numerous victories for Barcelona. Messi mentions Ronaldo in his statement, as I've mentioned before. He taught me a lot of things. I learned from what he did for me. For that, I shall be eternally thankful to him. I had the opportunity to use the same changing room as a renowned athlete. I usually feel fortunate for this. His smile will be in my memory forever. Lionel Messi's Achievements and Records Every year, Messi's performance improved. His outstanding performance during the 2008-09 season helped Barcelona win various titles for the third time. Messi's name is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most goals scored in a year in 2012 that year; he scored 91 goals . He broke the record held by legendary German player Gerd Muller. In 1972, Muller made a record mark by tallying 85 goals in a calendar year. Messi scored his 200th La Liga goal at the young age of 25, becoming him the youngest player to do so. He broke a milestone by becoming the first player to get four FIFA Awards in a row. Additionally, he is the first athlete to receive three European Golden Shoes. On February 16, 2013, Messi took the field for Barcelona. His 300th goal was scored. In Spanish La Liga, he is the only player with 300 goals. Argentina reached the World Cup final in 2014, thanks to his captaincy. He received the honour of the Golden Ball in recognition of his outstanding achievement. With a total salary of $127 million in 2019, Messi topped the list of Forbes's highest-paid athletes in the world. In addition, Messi established other records that no player will find it simple to break them. World best footballer for 7 th time In July 2021, Messi led Argentina to the Copa America Cup championship. He scored four goals, which put him in a tie for the team lead. He assisted in five goals being scored while there. In addition, Messi led Barcelona in goals scored in the Spanish division of La Liga. However, the team came in third. For Barcelona, he scored twice in the Copa del Rey championship. In 2021, Messi won the Ballon d'Or trophy for the most outstanding player for a record seventh time. The French football magazine "Ballon d'Or" has granted this award to the finest footballer every year since 1956, even though covid-19 made it impossible to conduct the ceremony the previous year. Messi has frequently been coveted to play for other football clubs with significant funds. But he has consistently been committed to Barcelona FC. He is among the world's highest-paid football players. His annual base compensation was reportedly 16 million euros in 2018. Additionally, he is worth 110 million euros. After basketball player LeBourne James and football legend Cristiano Ronaldo, this demonstrates that Messi is the second-best-paid athlete in the world and the third highest-paid soccer player. Being regarded as the greatest football player of all time, he has emerged as the public face of huge brands like Turkish Airlines, Adidas, Pepsi, and EA Sports. Lionel Messi Controversy He was discovered to have been engaged in the following controversies: He was under scrutiny in 2013 for possible tax evasion. His identity was also disclosed in the 2016 Panama Papers data breach. In addition, he was the subject of criticism after declaring his retirement from international football due to his defeat at the Copa America competition. Messi was arrested off the football pitch in July 2016 after a Barcelona court found him and his father guilty of three tax fraud charges. During the four-day trial, Messi and his father argued that they had not broken any laws and were unaware of tax fraud. He received a 21-month sentence, nevertheless. According to Spanish legislation, Messi and his father would have to pay a fine of 2 million euros if the charges were suspended within two years instead of going to jail. In this way, he experienced various difficulties throughout his professional life. We may learn from Lionel Messi's life how someone can achieve success by conquering the challenges in his path with willpower and talent. However, you must pay attention, and when anything awful happens in your life, you should care about finding a solution rather than panicking. 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Chris Byfield Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi is perhaps the most famous figure in the English-speaking world to have barely spoken the language publicly. However. having spent the past year with MLS side Inter Miami , the 36-year-old is likely to have put his English skills to the test. He even spoke a couple of words in a promotional video for the latest Bad Boys film starring Will Smith. In a recent interview, however, the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain icon revealed that while his grasp of English is better than he is often given credit for, he is embarrassed to speak it. Speaking to Abitare, he said: “I understand everything, or almost everything in English. But out of embarrassment I don't speak - but I think I can actually.” Messi’s Inter Miami colleague Julian Gressel has previously revealed that the Argentina superstar is good enough at English to make jokes with his teammates on the pitch. US international Gressel said: “ Messi doesn't really ever speak to me much and if he did, then it was a little bit in Spanish always. “I understand most of it in Spanish. He came over to me and said something in English. “That was the first time he'd spoken to me in English, during the game. He was covering his mouth like he always does. Then after - this is the funny part about it - he goes, 'English pretty good, no?'” Messi is currently on Argentina duty, looking to successfully defend their Copa America title in the US. He will then return to Chase Stadium to help Inter Miami in their quest for the MLS Cup. SPORTbible are on WhatsApp! We've launched a dedicated transfer news channel to send you the latest deals, rumours and more directly on WhatsApp and all you need to do to sign up is click through to our one-way broadcast channel here for 'SPORTbible News' to appear in the 'Updates' tab on your WhatsApp. Topics:  Lionel Messi , Inter Miami , Barcelona , Paris Saint-Germain , Copa America , MLS Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me. Choose your content: Fans love what Cristiano Ronaldo did immediately after full-time as Portugal beat Czechia Portugal beat czechia 2-1 to register their first win of euro 2024.. Fans slam one Portugal star for 'disastrous performance' against Czechia in Euro 2024 opener Fans called out the portugal star on social media.. Amadou Onana gives brutal 'seven word' response to reporter who mistakes him for Andre Onana Onana was not happy at all.. England player's brother banned from flying to Euro 2024 for unusual reason He has had to embark on a very lengthy journey instead.. Lionel Messi reveals which player runs Argentina's WhatsApp group and what it's called ahead of Copa America Lionel Messi confirms the club he will end his career with ahead of Copa America Lionel Messi shows he’s a true captain with class gesture during Argentina win vs Guatemala The one trophy Lionel Messi has failed to win in his stunning career 461 IMAGES Lionel Messi Biography in English (DOC) BIOGRAPHY LIONEL MESSI BHS INGGRIS Lionel Messi Amazon Biography of Lionel Messi/ Essay on Lionel Messi/ 15 Lines on Lionel Messi in english My ideal sportsman Lionel Messi VIDEO Messi’s Biography Lionel Messi Biography #shorts Lionel Messi-BIOGRAPHY-The Greatest soccer player of all time/ MINI BIOGRAPHY #leomessi #argentina MESSI 🇦🇷 BIOGRAPHY The Biography Messi Lionel Messi biography #Messi #foryou #motivation #love #reflexion #soccer #biography COMMENTS Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés " Leo " Messi [note 1] ( Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi] ⓘ; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a ... Lionel Messi: Biography, Soccer Player, Inter Miami CF, Athlete Lionel Messi is one of the world's best soccer players and helped Argentina win the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Read about his teams, awards, wife, height, and more. Lionel Messi Lionel Messi (born June 24, 1987, Rosario, Argentina) is an Argentine-born football (soccer) player who received a record-setting eight Ballon d'Or awards as the world's top male player (2009-12, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2023). In 2022 he helped Argentina win the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)'s World Cup. Lionel Messi Biography Short Biography Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi was born, 24 June 1987, in Rosario, Argentina to a working-class family. His father was a factory steel worker, and his mother a cleaner. He began playing from an early age, and his talent was soon apparent. However, at the age of 11, Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). Lionel Messi Born in Rosario, Argentina, in 1987, Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, and his illustrious career proves why. The Argentinean footballer, who holds a record eight Ballon d'Or awards, has displayed his talent early on and has always been destined for greatness.. When Messi was 13 years old, he and his family moved to Barcelona, where the club ... Lionel Messi Lionel Messi Cuccittini (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi] (); (born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine footballer. As of summer 2023, he plays for the Argentinian national team and American club Inter Miami. Messi is widely recognized as one of the best players of all time. His playing style and skills have been compared to the Argentine legend Diego Maradona. Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record eight Ballon d'Or awards, a record six European Golden Shoes, and was named the world's best player for a record eight times by FIFA. Career of Lionel Messi Lionel Messi's club career began with Barcelona, where he rose through the youth ranks, making his first-team debut in 2004.Over the next years, Messi became the club's all-time leading scorer, amassing numerous domestic and international accolades. During his tenure, Barcelona secured ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey victories, and four UEFA Champions League victories. The life and times of Lionel Messi The early life of Lionel Messi. It started with a videotape.Horacio Gaggioli, an agent in Argentina, was sent footage of a 12-year-old Lionel Messi playing for the oxymoronic Newell's Old Boys ... Lionel Messi: The evolution of the greatest footballer of all time His false-nine era had begun. As he gradually became a full-time centre-forward over the next few years, Messi went supernova. We're talking absolutely bonkers. In the first eight decades of La ... Lionel Messi's Life Story: The Smallest Boy With The Biggest ... Mar 08, 2018. Lionel Messi is a well-known name even to those with no interest in sports. Even though he is shorter than most of his teammates, he rises above his opponents with adept skill and a legendary ability to score goals for his team. Since his childhood, Lionel Messi, who was nicknamed "Leo", dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. Lionel Messi Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. He began playing soccer as a young boy. By 1995 he was a good enough player to join Newell's Old Boys, a top-division soccer club in Rosario. Messi's skills won attention on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and at the age of 13 Messi moved to Barcelona, Spain, to join FC Barcelona's ... Lionel Messi Biography Facts, Childhood, Career, Life Lionel Andres Messi Cuccittini was given birth to on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina, to a steel factory manager, Jorge Messi and his wife Celia Cuccittini. Messi was the third of four children they gave birth to. He grew up in a family where the game of football was adored. Young Lionel Messi in Argentina around 1993. Lionel Messi Biography Lionel Messi is an Argentine former professional footballer counted amongst the best players in the world in football history. The only player in history to win five FIFA Ballons d'Or, he was also the first player to win three European Golden Shoes. During his playing career he shattered many world records and currently holds the records for most goals scored in La Liga, a La Liga season (50 ... Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. He started playing soccer as a boy and in 1995 joined the youth team of Newell's Old Boys (a Rosario-based top-division soccer club). Messi's skills garnered the attention of prestigious clubs on both sides of the Atlantic. At age 13 Messi and his family relocated to ... Biografía Leo Messi BIOGRAPHY. MESSI. BIOGRAPHY. CHILDHOOD. As a child, I always had a ball nearby. I liked every sport, but football was the one I liked the most. At home, everybody was crazy about football: my brothers, my cousins... everyone. We all played football — it was the most important thing in our lives. At the age of four, after playing for my ... Lionel Messi Lionel Messi. Self: 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar. Lionel Messi is a football player from Argentina who plays for Inter Miami. He has won the Ballon D'Or, the annual award given to the best player in the world, 8 times, 2022 FIFA World Cup winner and an Olympic gold medal winner in 2008. He was born in 1987 in Rosario, Argentina's third-biggest city. He showed an enormous aptitude for football... Lionel Messi Biography: Life & Career Summary (2018) Lionel Andrés Messi (aka Leo, Lio, La Pulga [The Flea], La Pulga Atómica [The Atomic Flea], El Messías) was born on June 24, 1987 in the Argentine city of Rosario.He was raised with three siblings in a working-class neighbourhood known as Barrio General Las Heras. At the age of 5, he started playing for the Grandoli, a small local club in which his family was actively involved. List of career achievements by Lionel Messi Messi accepting the Golden Ball award alongside future teammate Neymar after the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup Final Messi, the player with the most Ballons d'Or in football history L-R: Daniel Passarella, Messi, and Diego Maradona; the three world champion captains with the Argentina national team. Argentine footballer Lionel Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, has ... Messi: The Definitive Biography Fully Updated to Include Messi's First Messi's final peak conquered; his final dream achieved. It was the fairy tale ending to a glittering career. Yet despite delivering Argentina their third World Cup, Messi's time at Paris Saint-Germain came to a dramatic conclusion, and Miami awaited the Argentinian legend. Biography of Lionel Messi in English Personal Life & History ... Biography of Lionel Messi in English Personal Life & History of MessiDSCLAIMERCopyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the copyright Act of 1976, allowance... Lionel Messi: Biography, Family, Education Messi joined the youth academy of the Barcelona team and is now credited for developing the talented footballer via training. Lionel Messi made the correct choice to take advantage of this opportunity. When he entered the club's changing room for the first time. Everyone was so dubious due to his diminutive height. Lionel Messi reveals the true reason why he refuses to speak English Lionel Messi revealed the reason he refuses to speak English. Eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi is perhaps the most famous figure in the English-speaking world to have barely spoken the ... essay homework paper phd project resume review speech study thesis