Lionel Messi


professional footballer, forward

Vision


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.

  • CAREER

    • Barcelona

      • 2018 – present

        Barcelona captain

      • 2017 – 2018

        Domestic double and a record fifth Golden Boot

      • 2016 – 2017

        Fourth Golden Boot

      • 2015 – 2016

        Domestic success

      • 2014 – 2015

        A historic treble

      • 2013 – 2014

        Messidependencia

      • 2012

        A record-breaking year

      • 2009 – 2011

        Sustained success

      • 2005 – 2008

        Making the starting eleven

      • 2003 – 2005

        Rise to the first team

      • 2018

        World Cup

      • 2016

        Copa América Centenario, retirement, and return

      • 2014 – 2015

        World Cup and Copa América finals

      • 2011 – 2013

        Assuming the captaincy

      • 2008 – 2011

        Collective decline

      • 2007 – 2008

        Copa América final and Olympic gold

      • 2005 – 2006

        Senior and World Cup debuts

      • 2004 – 2005

        Success at youth level

BIOGRAPHY

  • 2019

    • Scores 600 goals for Barca
    • Wins La Liga and Supercopa de España

  • 2018

    • Wins La Liga and Copa del Rey

  • 2017

    • Wins Copa del Rey

  • 2016

    • Messi comes out of international retirement to help his team qualify for the world cup
    • Wins La Liga, Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España

  • 2015

    • Wins La Liga and Copa del Rey
    • Wins UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup

  • 2014

    • Scores a hat-trick (three goals during a single game), to become FC Barcelona's all-time leading scorer with 371 goals for Barca, beating the record set by Paulino Alcantara, who scored 369 goals
    • Wins the Golden Ball award for the best player in the 2014 FIFA World Cup
    • Becomes the leading goalscorer in the European Champions League with 74 goals in 91 appearances

  • 2013

    • Wins his fourth consecutive record- breaking Ballon D'or (Golden Ball award)
    • Wins La Liga and Supercopa de España

  • 2012

    • Wins Copa del Rey
    • Wins his third Ballon D'or (Golden Ball award)
    • Has a baby boy, Thiago Messi and becomes a father

  • 2011 – 2012

    • Sets the all-time record for the most goals scored in a single season for a major European football league, with 73 goals

  • 2011

    • Wins his second Ballon D'or (Golden Ball award)
    • Wins La Liga, Supercopa de España, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup

  • 2010

    • Wins his first Ballon D'or (Golden Ball award)
    • Wins La Liga and Supercopa de España

  • 2009

    • Wins La Liga, Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup
    • Wins FIFA World player of the year

  • 2008

    • Gets married to childhood friend and girlfriend, Antonella Roccuzzo
    • Wins Olympic Gold Medal (Argentina)

  • 2007

    • Establishes 'Leo Messi Foundation', working to improve access education and health care for children

  • 2006

    • Wins La Liga, UEFA Champions League and Supercopa de España

  • 2005

    • At the age of 18, scored his first official goal and was the youngest player to score for FC Barcelona
    • Wins La Liga and Supercopa de España (FC Barcelona) and FIFA U-20 World Cup (Argentina)

  • 2004

    • Made his official debut against RCD Espanyol

  • 2003

    • Made his unofficial debut for FC Barcelona in a friendly match against FC Porto

  • 2000

    • Signs with legendary team FC Barcelona and works his way up through Barca's youth squads

  • 1998

    • At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency

  • 1995

    • Joined to play for the local team, Newell's Old boys in Rosario

  • 1991

    • At the age of 4 joined the local club Grandoli where his dad coached him

  • 1987

    • Was born on June 24th 1987, in Rosario, Argentina

Main Info

Lionel Andrés Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Often considered the best player in the world and regarded by many as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record-tying five Ballon d'Or awards, four of which consecutively, and a record five European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won a club-record 34 trophies, including 10 La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League trophies and six Copas del Rey. Both a prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga and Europe's top 5 leagues (417), a La Liga season and club league season in Europe (50), a club football season in Europe (73), most official goals in a calendar year (91), El Clásico (26), most hat-tricks in the UEFA Champions League (8), most wins in La Liga, as well as those for most assists in La Liga (167) and the Copa América (11). He has scored over 690 senior career goals for club and country.

About national team 🇦🇷

I've never stopped being Argentine and I 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.

Awards & Achievements

  • Messi’s excellence at the field has been lauded by the world over through the numerous awards, honors and achievements that he has been bestowed with. Messi has won the prestigious Ballon d'Or five times. He has won it in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
  • Messi has on a number of occasions won awards in the young player of the year category. Some of them are World Soccer Young Player of the Year, FIFPro World Young Player of the Year and Copa America Young Player of the Tournament.
  • Messi has in his kitty 20 Player of the Year awards including FIFA World Player of the Year (1), World Soccer Player of the Year (3), Goal.com Player of the Year (2), UEFA Best Player in Europe Award (1), UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (1), FIFA U-20 World Cup Player of the Tournament (1), La Liga Player of the Year (3), La Liga Foreign Player of the Year (3) and La Liga Ibero-American Player of the Year (5).
  • For his knack of netting the ball to the goal, Messi has been awarded as the top goalscorer on numerous occasions. Some of them include IFFHS World's best Top Division Goal Scorer, IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer, UEFA Champions League Top Goalscorer, FIFA U-20 World Cup Top Goalscorer and Copa del Rey Top Goalscorer.
  • Messi was honoured with the European Golden Shoe thrice in 2010, 2011 and 2012. He won the FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball twice in 2009 and 2011. He was tagged as the European Golden Boy in the year 2005.
  • He was part of the Argentine football national team that won the gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Philanthropy

  • Established the Leo Messi Foundation, a charity supporting access to education and health care for vulnerable children in 2007. This was in response to Messi’s own medical ailments that he faced as a child. The foundation works towards providing children diagnosed with illnesses treatment in Spain funds covering the transport, hospital and recuperation costs. Most of the funds collected by the organization is through Messi’s own effort with a little aid by Herbalife.
  • Was the goodwill ambassador for UNICEF in 2010. He worked towards supporting children’s rights.
  • In 2013, donated a sum of €600,000 for the restoration of a children's hospital by the name Victor J Vilela Children's Hospital, in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina. The donated amount was basically used in restoring the oncology unit of the hospital and paying for doctors to travel to Barcelona for training.

  • Top 10 Facts You Don't Know About Lionel Messi

    1. Although Lionel Messi has Spanish citizenship, he is of Italian origin. His paternal family is from the Italian city of Ancona in the Marche region.
    2. He shares the same birthplace, Rosario, with the Argentine revolutionary, Che Guevara.
    3. Despite his fame, he still maintains close connections with the people of Rosario, his hometown. He is also the international ambassador of Rosario.
    4. Messi has his own version of the Hand of God goal. On 4 October 2006 in a match against Recreativo de Huelva, he scored a goal with his hand.
    5. SportsPro’ has cited him as one of the world's most marketable athletes every year since 2010.
    6. One of the world's highest-paid footballers, he was the first player to exceed the €40 million benchmark.
    7. He has his mother’s face tattooed on his left shoulder.
    8. He is the only player with four FIFA Ballon d'Or awards and three European Golden Shoe awards. Additionally, he won the Golden Ball award twice and the European Golden Boy award once.
    9. Messi holds the record for the most hat-tricks scored (four in total) in Champions League.
    10. He is known for his excessive love for food and his favorite dish is escalope Milanese.

Gratitude

I want to thank everyone who has supported me all this time: those who believe, like me, that great things are yet to be achieved. Those who encourage me to keep playing football no matter what. None of this would have been possible without their support. Thank you for joining me in living out my life passion.