Lionel Messi

Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi, born 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Argentina, is a forward and captain for Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami. Considered one of football’s all-time greats, he holds records for individual honors, including eight Ballon d’Or awards, six European Golden Shoes, and eight FIFA World Player of the Year titles. In 2025, the IFFHS named him the All Time Men’s World Best Player. He was also the first team-sport athlete to win the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (2020 and 2023) and appeared on Time’s 100 most influential people list in 2011, 2012, and 2023.

Messi is the most decorated player in professional football history, with 46 team trophies. He scored 91 goals in a single calendar year, has over 920 senior career goals and more than 420 assists for club and country—making him the sport’s second-highest scorer and top assist provider. With over 1,150 career appearances, he ranks fourth in the 21st century. Sponsored by Adidas since 2006, he was Forbes’ highest-paid athlete in 2019 and 2022. In 2020, he became the second footballer and second team-sport athlete to surpass $1 billion in career earnings, and in 2026 he joined Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list with a net worth of $1.1 billion.

Messi debuted for Barcelona’s senior team in 2004 at age 17, quickly emerging as a top young talent and winning FIFPro Young Player of the Year three straight years (2006–2008). In his first full season (2008–09), he helped Barcelona secure Spanish football’s first treble, earning the first of four consecutive Ballon d’Or awards. By 2011–12, he held the European record for most goals in a season and became Barcelona’s all-time top scorer. During 2014–15, he formed the MSN trio with Luis Suárez and Neymar, leading Barcelona to a second treble and winning his fifth Ballon d’Or.

Named Barcelona captain in 2018, Messi won a club-record 34 trophies there, including ten La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions Leagues. He holds the records for most goals for a single club (672) and most in La Liga (474). Financial issues forced him to leave Barcelona in 2021 for Paris Saint-Germain. In the 2022–23 Ligue 1 season, he recorded 16 goals and 16 assists in 32 matches, helping PSG win the league title for the second time since his arrival. He joined Inter Miami in 2023, leading them to their first MLS Cup in 2025 and winning league MVP in 2024 and 2025. Time named him Athlete of the Year in 2023, and US president Joe Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025.

For Argentina, Messi is the all-time leading scorer (125 goals) and most-capped player (207 appearances). After his senior debut in 2005, he won Olympic gold in 2008. As captain from 2011, he led Argentina to the 2014 World Cup final, the 2015 Copa América final, and the 2016 Copa América Centenario final—all losses. He briefly retired from international football in 2016 but soon returned. He then led Argentina to victory in the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 World Cup, becoming the first player to win the World Cup Golden Ball twice. A third major international title came at the 2024 Copa América. At the 2026 World Cup, he led Argentina to a second consecutive final, earning the Silver Boot and Silver Ball, then retired from international football. He holds records for most World Cup assists (12) and most international assists (65).

Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, to Jorge Messi, a department head at an Acindar steel plant, and Celia Cuccittini, who worked in a magnet workshop. His parents met in the Las Heras district, where Messi grew up, and married in 1978 after Jorge’s military service. On his father’s side, he has Italian and Spanish ancestry, with roots in the Marche region; his mother’s side is primarily Italian. Raised in a football-loving family, he played constantly with older brothers Rodrigo and Matías, and cousins Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi (both later professional footballers). He has a younger sister, María Sol.

At age four, Messi joined local club Abanderado Grandoli, coached by his father. His maternal grandmother, Celia, often accompanied him; her death shortly before his eleventh birthday deeply affected him. A devout Catholic, he celebrates goals by looking up and pointing to the sky in her memory. He understands English but does not speak it fluently, and has regretted not learning it as a child.

At seven, Messi began playing for Rosario’s Newell’s Old Boys.