Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini (born on June 24, 1987), commonly known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine footballer who plays as a striker or midfielder. Historical player of Fútbol Club Barcelona, to which he was linked for twenty years, since 2021 he integrates the squad of Paris Saint-Germain of Ligue 1 of France. Since 2023, he has been a member of Inter Miami of the American MLS. He is also an international with the selection of Argentina, the team of which he is the captain.
| Lionel Messi | ||
|---|---|---|
| Olympic medalist | ||
| Personal data | ||
| Full name | Lionel Andres Messi Cuccittini | |
| Birth name | Lionel Andres Messi | |
| Nickname(s) | La Pulga, the Messiah, D10S. | |
| Birth date | June 24, 1987 | |
| Birthplace | Rosario, Argentina | |
| Nationality(ies) | Spanish Argentina | |
| Height | 1.70 m (5’7″) | |
| Weight | 72 kg (158 lb) | |
| Couple | Antonela Roccuzzo (marr.2017) | |
| Career | ||
| Sport | Football | |
| Professional Club | ||
| Sports debut | October 16, 2004 (F.C. Barcelona) | |
| Club | Inter Miami | |
| League | Ligue 1 | |
| Position | Midfielder Striker | |
| Bib(s) | 10 | |
| Club goals | 715 | |
| National team | ||
| Selection | Argentina | |
| Debut | 17 August 2005 | |
| Bib(s) | 10 | |
| Goals | 176 (104) | |
| Path | ||
|
||
| Men’s Soccer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Gold | Catar 2022 | Football | |
| Silver | Brazil 2014 | Football | |
| COPA America | |||
| Gold | Brazil 2021 | Football | |
| Silver | USA 2016 | Football | |
| Silver | Chile 2015 | Football | |
| Silver | Venezuela 2007 | Football | |
| Bronze | Brazil 2019 | Football | |
| CONMEBOL-UEFA Champions Cup | |||
| Gold | London 2022 | Football | |
| FIFA U-20 World Cup | |||
| Gold | Netherlands 2005 | Football | |
| South American U-20 | |||
| Bronze | Colombia 2005 | Football | |
| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | Beijing 2008 | Football | |
Often considered the best player in the world and one of the best of all time, he is the only footballer in history to have won, among other distinctions, seven times the Golden Ball, six FIFA awards for the best player in the world, six Golden Boots and two Golden Balls of the World Cup. In 2020, he became the first footballer and the first Argentine to receive a Laureus award and was included in the Golden Ball Dream Team.
With Barcelona, he has won 35 titles, including ten La Liga, four UEFA Champions League titles and seven Copa del Rey titles.
A prolific goalscorer, he holds, among others, the records for most goals in a season, in the same club and in a calendar year: in 2012, he surpassed Gerd Müller’s mark and entered the Guinness World Records. He is also the all-time top scorer for Barcelona and the Argentine national team, La Liga, the Spanish Super Cup, the European Super Cup and the non-European player with the most goals in the UEFA Champions League.
Born and raised in the city of Rosario, at the age of 13 he settled in Spain, where Barcelona agreed to pay for the treatment of the hormonal disease he had been diagnosed with as a child. After a rapid progression through Barcelona’s youth academy, he made his official debut with the first team in October 2004, aged seventeen. Despite being prone to injuries early in his career, as early as 2006 he established himself as a pivotal player for the club. His first uninterrupted campaign was the 2008-09 season, in which Barcelona reached the first treble of Spanish football. Because of his style of play as a small left-handed dribbler, he was soon compared to his compatriot Diego Maradona who, in 2007, declared him his “successor”.
In 2009, at the age of twenty-two, he won his first Golden Ball and the FIFA World Player of the Year award. Three successful seasons followed, winning four consecutive Golden Ball, which was unprecedented. So far, his best personal campaign is the 2011-12 season, in which he set the record for most goals in a season, both in La Liga and in other European competitions. During the next two seasons, he also suffered injuries and, in 2014, lost the Golden Ball to Cristiano Ronaldo, who is considered his rival. He regained his best form during the 2014-15 campaign, in which he surpassed the records of absolute top scorer in La Liga and the Champions League and achieved with Barcelona a historic second treble, in addition to winning his fifth Golden Ball. He would win it again for the sixth and seventh time in 2019 and 2021.
As an Argentine international, he has represented his country in eleven major tournaments. At the youth level, in 2005 he participated with the U-20 team in the South American of Colombia and won the World Cup in the Netherlands, a tournament in which he finished as the best player and top scorer and, with the U-23, he received the gold medal in the 2008 Olympic Games.
After debuting in the senior team in August 2005, at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, he became the youngest Argentine to play and score in a World Cup. The following year, in the Copa América, he was named best young player of the tournament. As captain since August 2011, he reached with his team the finals of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the 2015 Copa America and the Copa America Centenario, in addition to winning the Copa America 2021 against Brazil at the Maracanã and, in 2022, the Finalissima against Italy at Wembley and the Qatar World Cup against France at the Lusail stadium.
Origins and Formation of Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi was born on June 24, 1987, at the Italian Garibaldi Hospital in the city of Rosario, in the province of Santa Fe. He is the third child of Jorge Horacio Messi and Celia María Cuccittini. He has two older brothers, Rodrigo and Matías, and a younger sister, María Sol. His paternal family is originally from the Italian municipality of Recanati, from where his great-grandfather, Angelo Messi, emigrated to Argentina in 1883. It was his maternal grandmother, Celia, who encouraged him to dedicate himself to football and whom he thanks after scoring a goal, pointing to the sky with both hands. Two of his cousins (Maximilian and Emanuel Biancucchi) are also footballers. He studied at primary school No. 66 “Gen. Las Heras”.
At just four years old, he began playing soccer at the Abanderado Grandoli club, located south of Rosario, in the Grandoli neighborhood, a few blocks from his home. His first coach was Salvador Aparicio. In 1994, he began training in the lower divisions of Newell’s Old Boys. At the age of eight, she was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. For a year and a half, the treatment, of 900 dollars a month, was covered by his social work and Acindar, a steel company where his father worked
In 1995, he played an unofficial tournament with Central Córdoba.
In 1999, the Italian team Como had the opportunity to sign him, but finally did not do so because of the difficulties presented by the family’s move. The following year, after being recruited by Federico Vairo in Rosario, Messi went to Buenos Aires to try out for River Plate. Eduardo Abrahamian, in charge of the children’s divisions of the club, asked for his incorporation, but this never materialized. The player gave his version of why he did not enter the institution in an interview with Fox Sports Radio on May 31, 2019:
I was at Newell’s and went to try out at River’s school in Rosario. One of the guys I was going told me to go and I said yes. Then they brought me to Buenos Aires. They were category 85, all bigger. I played fifteen or twenty minutes. They told me to come back in ten days with my category. I came back and scored three or four goals and they told me I had to stay, that I had to take the pass. They were going to take care of the treatment. Newell’s never banked me in that sense, never paid me (…) In River they told me to take the pass, and when I went to Newell’s they took me out shitting. We fought and fought but the pass was never given to me. They never gave me the pass. Then everything came out of Barcelona.
On September 3, at the age of thirteen, he gave his first interview to a media outlet in the supplement “Pasión Rojinegra” of the newspaper La Capital de Rosario.
Two scouts from Buenos Aires, aware of his time at River, contacted his partner in Barcelona, Horacio Gaggioli, who in turn contacted the agent Josep María Minguella. Minguella decided to call Carles Rexach to ask them to test the player.
On September 17, 2000, from Buenos Aires with a stopover in Madrid, Messi arrived with his father at El Prat, Barcelona airport, where Gaggioli was waiting to take them to the hotel, just in front of Camp Nou. Joaquín Rifé, youth coach, summoned him for a training session with children of his category, among which were Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique. In one of those trainings, which lasted two weeks, he scored six goals and, according to Joan Lacueva, the executive responsible for the club’s youth football, “at half time they had to change teams to balance the friendly”.
However, the club still did not sign him, because they expected the return of Rexach, who had gone to the Sydney Olympics. Finally, a test was organized on October 2 in field 3, on the return of Rexach, who saw Messi play and resolved the situation: “I arrived with the game started and I did not have time to sit down. It was clear to me that, if we didn’t sign him, we would regret it,” he recalled years later.
He was very short, hardly spoke and nobody could imagine the one that was going to mess us up.
Gerard Piqué, one of the academy players who played with Messi at La Masia.
Despite the fact that some technicians did not approve his hiring, on December 14, Rexach met in the restaurant of the Pompeia Tennis Club with Gaggioli and Minguella and drafted an agreement in principle on a paper napkin, in which he committed to his signing and signed all the parties involved, as a contract.
In Barcelona, on December 14, 2000 and in the presence of Mr. Minguella and Mr. Horacio (Gaggioli), Carles Rexach, technical secretary of the F.C.B., undertakes under his responsibility and despite some opinions against signing the player Lionel Messi as long as we remain in the agreed amounts.
Text of the napkin, preserved in the Club Museum
On January 8, 2001, they signed a document in which they secured a job for Messi’s father in grassroots football (as a way to cover up the signing of the teenager) and the payment of hormonal treatment. The following month, the Messi family settled in Barcelona, first in a hotel and then in an apartment in Les Corts. The mother and siblings returned to Rosario shortly thereafter.
Lower categories
Newell’s Old Boys (1994-1999)
Messi played in Newell’s youth system between 1994 and 1999. He was part of the 1987 category, known as “La Máquina ’87”, directed by Ernesto Vecchio. He debuted against Paul VI on April 9, in a match that Newell’s won 6-0 with four goals of his own. The club received, among other titles, the Copa de la Amistad of Peru in 1997, after converting ten goals (nine by Messi) to Callao, and in 1998 won the Ciudad de Balcarce tournament, in the province of Buenos Aires, in which Messi scored fifteen goals in six games. In this period, Messi scored 234 goals, averaging 1.32 per game. n a 2014 interview, Vecchio commented: “Watching him play Leo at such a young age was really impressive. One could not believe (…) to see a boy with that virtue, that quality, and so small, small, who does so many things with the ball.”
| Team | Year | Parties | Goals | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newell’s “A” (Category ’87) Argentina | 1994 | 29 | 40 | 1.38 |
| 1995 | 30 | 36 | 1.2 | |
| 1996 | 27 | 36 | 1.33 | |
| 1997 | 36 | 40 | 1.11 | |
| 1998 | 25 | 27 | 1.08 | |
| 1999 | 29 | 55 | 1.9 | |
| Total | 176 | 234 | 1.33 |
F.C. Barcelona (2000-2005)
In 2001, Messi began training with Rodolfo Borrell’s Infantil A, but then he was transferred to Infantil B, managed by Xavi Llorens, where he played as a midfielder or left winger. Being a foreigner, he could not participate in official matches, but he could participate in friendlies. He played for the first time in March, away against Amposta, and scored a goal, but in the next match, against Ebre Escola Esportiva on April 21, he fractured his left fibula, so he could not play until June.
Shortly thereafter, while descending a ladder, he strained ligaments in his left ankle and missed the rest of the 2000-2001 season. He returned to training with Infantil A in the 2001–2002 season but was soon promoted to Tito Vilanova’s Cadete B, where he scored nine goals in ten games. In the 2002-2003 season, he joined Cadete A, coached by Álex García, with whom he played 31 games and scored 38 goals. Cadete A were champions of La Liga and the Catalunya Cup, after beating Espanyol 4–1 with a brace from Messi.
He began the 2003-2004 preseason on August 8 in the Juvenil B, within the framework of the Toyota U17 Club World Cup, with Feyenoord as opponents, which the Spaniards beat 3-1. He played all 90 minutes and provided an assist to Franck Songo’o. Juan Carlos Pérez Rojo, coach of Juvenil A, asked him for a Liga de la División de Honor Juvenil match against Hércules that Barcelona won 3–0. On October 26, against Gimnastic de Tarragona, he scored four goals in a match for the 0-7 of Barcelona.
Frank Rijkaard, coach of the first team, summoned Messi and other academy players to play an exhibition match against Fútbol Club Porto, coached by José Mourinho, at the inauguration of the Estádio do Dragão in Porto. Thus, on November 16, 2003, at sixteen years and 145 days, and when he had not yet been through Barça B, Messi debuted with the first team. He was, at the time, the third youngest to do so. On 29 November, he played for Barcelona C against Europa of the third division.
On 18 February 2004, he was called up for another friendly with the first team, this time against FC Shakhtar Donetsk. After eleven games with Barcelona C, on 6 March he played for the first time with Pere Gratacós’ Barcelona B against Mataró in Segunda División B. Towards the end of the season, he played six times with Barcelona B and also played matches for Barcelona C and Juveniles A and B. On May 15, with Juvenil A, in the second leg of the Copa del Rey Juvenil against Sevilla, he converted his second poker. That year, he played in five categories in four months, in which he went from the youth to the professional team. He scored, in total, 35 goals in 37 official matches with Juvenil B, Juvenil A, Barça C and Barça B.
In the 2004-2005 season, he alternated matches in Second Division B and First Division: he played seventeen with Barcelona B, in which he scored six goals, and nine in the first team, with which he scored once.
| Club | Division | Season | Parties | Goals | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F.C. Barcelona Spain | Infant B | 2000-01 | 2 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Cadet B | 2001-02 | 10 | 9 | ||
| Cadet A | 2002-03 | 31 | 38 | 1.23 | |
| Juvenile B | 2003-04 | 3 | 1 | 0.57 | |
| Youth A | 19 | 29 | 1.48 | ||
| Barcelona C | 10 | 5 | 0.5 | ||
| Barcelona B | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2004-05 | 17 | 6 | 0.35 | ||
| Total | 97 | 89 | 0.98 | ||
Path
Messi’s first years
He began the 2004-2005 preseason playing friendlies with the first team: against Banyoles, Figueres, Palamós, Hercules and Olympique de Marseille, where he started for the first time. Against Palamós on July 20 at Camp Nou, in the ’74th minute, he scored his first goal, which put the 0-4 partial of a match that Barcelona won 0-6. He also participated in the On Tour Asia, a promotional tour of the club in Korea, China and Japan in which four friendlies were played. He scored a goal on 1 August in a 5–0 win over Kashima Antlers.
Although he knew he could function as an attacker in any position, Rikjaard made him play as a right winger, since he had Giuly. Messi played his first official match on October 16, the Barcelona derby against Espanyol at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, when he replaced Deco eight minutes before the end of the match. At seventeen years, three months and twenty-two days, he became one of the youngest academy players to debut in La Liga. On 27 October, against Gramenet, he played for the first time in the Copa del Rey and on 7 December in the 2004–2005 Champions League against FC Shakhtar Donetsk at the Donbass Arena. Towards the end of that year, the newspaper El País pointed to it as “the great promise”.
In a La Liga match against Albacete Balompié on May 1, 2005, after an assist from Ronaldinho, Messi scored, from Vaseline, his first official goal, after another similar one was canceled for being offside. At seventeen years, 10 months and 7 days, he became the youngest Barcelona player to score a goal in that tournament, a mark surpassed by Bojan Krkić in 2007. After five seasons without winning the title, on May 14 Barcelona drew 1-1 against Levante and was champion of La Liga three days before the end of the tournament.
I will never forget that Rijkaard got me going. That he trusted me when he was only seventeen years old.
Messi about his former coach.
In June, Messi signed his first contract as a first-team player, which linked him with the club until 2010 and had a buyout clause of 150 million euros, similar to those of Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o, players already established in the squad.
Ownership and consecration in the elite
Although Rijkaard had brought him on as a substitute for the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Betis on 13 August, Messi was unable to play because the foreign quota was already covered. Barcelona won 3-0 and, a week later, lost 2-1, a result with which they won the first title of the season. Messi, meanwhile, was able to regularize his situation only on October 1, so he did not participate in the first five days of La Liga. On 24 August, he started the Joan Gamper Trophy against Juventus at Camp Nou.
Although Barcelona lost 2-4 in the penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw, his performance was so good that, for the first time, he was cheered when he was substituted and Fabio Capello, coach of Juventus, asked Rijkaard if he did not give it to him, in addition to saying in the subsequent press conference that “I have never seen a player with such quality at this age and with that personality with a Such an important T-shirt”.
In Mundo Deportivo, Andrés Astruells wrote that for Messi, whom he defined as “small, incisive” and with “a devilish change of pace”, the Trophy had been “his big night” and Santi Nolla claimed that he had “catapulted” him. In El País’s match report, it was noted that “Last night’s Gamper will go down in history for having enthroned a masterful footballer who gave a recital”, while other Spanish journalists described it as a hinge moment in his career. After the tournament, the club decided that he would not play for the youth team again and would be part of the first team.
Due to the interest he had aroused in other European clubs, such as Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers, for his performance in the U-20 World Cup and at Joan Gamper, on September 16 president Joan Laporta decided to increase his salary and extend his contract until 2014, with the same termination clause.
As he could not play because he was a foreigner, Barcelona turned to the Royal Spanish Football Federation to consider him assimilated but, on September 19, the Executive Committee of the Professional League rejected that concession. Messi, therefore, could not participate in Spanish competitions (nor with Barcelona B), although he could participate in the Champions League. The club then decided to accelerate its nationalization, which it obtained on the 26th of the same month. The next day, Messi played in the 2005-2006 Champions League against Udinese. The fans at Camp Nou cheered him before the match and after his substitution, as well as appreciated his composure with the ball and passing combinations with Ronaldinho.
Messi played his first La Liga game on 1 October in a 2–2 draw with Zaragoza, where he came on in the ’66th minute in place of Giuly. Alavés and Deportivo La Coruña denounced before the Competition Committee his inclusion in the squad, considering that he had been given the license as a youth and not as a professional. The Committee, however, declared the complaint inadmissible, since the player retained the youth license and was a Spanish citizen.
On November 2, Messi scored his first Champions League goal against Panathinaikos, which Barcelona beat 5–0. On the 19th, for a La Liga match at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, he started in his first Clasico, which Real Madrid lost 0-3 and in which Ronaldinho received applause from the rival fans. He gave the pass to Eto’o for the first goal, surpassed the marking of Roberto Carlos and accelerated the game of his team, at times slow and wasted chances of goal.
In the second round of the 2005–2006 Champions League, on 22 February 2006 at Stamford Bridge against Mourinho’s Chelsea, Messi kicked five shots on goal, all between the three sticks, and scored a goal for Barcelona’s 2–1 win. In El País, Santiago Segurola commented that, despite his eighteen years and his few games as a starter, Messi had dominated the match “at a sidereal distance from the others” and had established himself as “a great star”.
Other newspapers also highlighted his performance, while Diego Maradona, in an interview with the BBC, pointed to him as the one who would “take his place” in Argentine football. In the second leg, played at Camp Nou on March 7, he tore his left femoral muscle, which prevented him from playing the next seventeen matches. On May 3, Barcelona won La Liga and were European champions on May 17, after beating Arsenal at the Stade de France. Despite having played only twenty-five games in which he scored eight goals, that season Messi became the emerging figure of the team.
In May, he was nominated for the Laureus Award for Breakthrough Sportsman of the Year, but lost to Rafael Nadal. In the middle of the 2005-06 season, they began to point him out as the revelation player of the year: in September, he received in Italy the Euro Champion Award, which distinguishes the best young player in the world, in November, the newspaper El Mundo spoke of a duel between Messi and the young Brazilian Robinho, signed by Real Madrid that same year, whom he considered the future stars of La Liga and, in December, he received the Golden Boy award, presented by the Italian magazine Tuttosport to the best young player in Europe. Messi, with 225 points out of 300, surpassed Wayne Rooney (127) and Lukas Podolski (74).
In the 2006–07 season, he established himself in the starting lineup. On August 17 and 20, he played his first final with the first team, the Spanish Super Cup, which Barcelona beat Espanyol 1–0, 3–0. He participated in another final on the 25th, the European Super Cup, which Sevilla won at the Stade Louis II in Monaco. He scored no goals in either competition.
In the first two days of La Liga, on August 28 he scored one of the three goals of Barcelona’s 3–2 against Celta de Vigo and, on September 9, another in the 3–0 against Osasuna.
In Barcelona’s second match in the 2006–2007 Champions League, on 27 September against Werder Bremen, he came on in the second half in place of Giuly and, seven minutes before the end of the match, scored the goal of a 1–1 draw.
In October, he received the Best Young Player award, awarded by FIFPRO.
In a league match against Zaragoza on 12 November, he broke his left metatarsus and was unable to play for three months. He recovered from his injury in Argentina and returned on 11 February 2007 in the second half against Racing de Santander.
In January 2007, his pay was increased to three million euros per year and the contract was extended until 2014.
On 10 March, with a hat-trick against Real Madrid, which was a 3–3 draw with ten men in his team, he became the youngest player to have scored in El Clasico. Since Romario in 1994, no other Barcelona player had scored a hat trick in the Spanish derby and no one had done so since Ivan Zamorano in 1995.
On 18 April, in the 5–2 semi-final 2006–2007 Copa del Rey against Getafe FC, Messi scored two goals, the first very similar to Maradona’s so-called Goal of the Century against England in the 1986 World Cup. He ran almost the same distance (62 meters) and eluded the same number of players (six, including the goalkeeper), to score from a very similar position, after running towards the corner pennant. Different people linked to football and the international press compared him with the Argentine 10 and the Spanish newspaper Marca called him “Messidona”. In the second leg on 10 May, Getafe won 4–0 and eliminated Barcelona from the tournament.
On June 9, in the Barcelona derby, Messi converted a goal similar to that of “The Hand of God”, scored by Maradona against England in the quarterfinals of the 86 World Cup. He got ahead of goalkeeper Carlos Kameni and wanted to head but, as he did not arrive, he pushed the ball with his hand. Despite protests from Espanyol players and replays that showed the obvious foul, the goal was validated. On August 15, thanks to Messi’s 1-0 goal against Bayern Munich, Barcelona won the first edition of the Beckenbauer Cup. Towards the end of La Liga, Messi began to score more goals than at the beginning of the season (11 of his 14 goals were made in the last thirteen games). He scored a total of seventeen goals in thirty-six games (14 in La Liga, 1 in the Champions League and 2 in the Copa del Rey).
In November, he became the first Argentine to receive the Bravo Trophy, awarded by Guerin Sportivo to the best footballers under the age of twenty-one. On 4 December, he came third in the Golden Ball voting, behind Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, and on 16 December he was included for the first time in the FIFA/FIFPro World XI in the striker category.
On 29 April, Barcelona was eliminated by Manchester United in the semi-finals of the 2007–2008 Champions League, after a goalless draw on 23 at Camp Nou and a 1–0 loss at Old Trafford. By the end of the season, he had made sixteen goals and ten assists in forty games.
Golden era of the club: the “Pep Team”
2008-09: Historic treble
After two seasons without success, Barcelona needed a reform, which caused the departure of Rijkaard and the arrival of Pep Guardiola as a coach, by unanimous decision of the club’s executive committee, supported by the board of directors. After the departure of Ronaldinho, Messi received the shirt with the number 10. In June 2008, he signed his fourth contract for a salary of between 10 and 14 million euros, which made him the highest paid of the club.
Looking ahead to the new season, one of the main concerns remained his frequent muscle injuries, which had sidelined him for a total of eight months between 2006 and 2008. To solve the problem, new nutrition and sleep regimens were implemented and Barcelona agreed to choose a personal kinesiologist and physiotherapist, who would be supervised by the club’s medical staff. As a result, he remained virtually injury-free for the next four years.
At the end of July, he participated in a tour of Scotland in which Barcelona played against Hibernians and Dundee United. On 27 July, against Dundee, he scored a hat-trick and was captain for the first time. He scored, between the two games, four of his team’s eleven goals.
By the end of the year, there was already talk of “Messidependence” in the press to refer to his fundamental role in the team, although Laporta and Guardiola denied that this was the case. Already in July, after the repercussion for his performance in Scotland, the coach had said “I don’t want Messi to solve everything. Messi has to be helped because he also helps us” and that he did not believe that there would be “two Barças, one with Messi and one without him”.
In December he reached second place in the Golden Ball and, in January 2009, in the FIFA World Player award, both times behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
On January 6, in the first leg of the knockout round of the Copa del Rey, he scored a hat trick in the 3–1 win against Atlético de Madrid, despite his team missing seven starters. The rival fans celebrated his second goal and applauded him when he was substituted. On 1 February, in a La Liga match against Racing de Santander, where he came on in the second half, he scored the tying goal and another for the 2–1 final, which was Barcelona’s 5000th goal in that tournament.
On 8 April, in the first leg of the 2008–2009 Champions League quarter-finals, he made two goals and two assists in the 4–0 win over Bayern Munich.
On May 2, for a league match, Barcelona won 6-2 against Real Madrid with a double from Messi, in what was their biggest win at the Santiago Bernabeu. That was the first game in which Messi scored a goal in that stadium and played as a false nine, after Guardiola decided that he would no longer play as a winger and establish him as the axis of the team’s game.
Against Chelsea, on May 6 in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals, he assisted Andrés Iniesta in the goal that allowed the 1-1 draw in the 92nd minute and Barcelona’s passage to the final. On 13 May, in a classic against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey, he scored his first goal in a final with the first team and assisted in the second for the 4–1 Barcelona tournament winner after eleven years. Three days later, the club was champion of La Liga without having to play the last three matchdays.
On 27 May, in the Champions League final against Manchester United at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, Messi scored Barcelona’s second goal, which won 2–0 and won its third European Cup, to win the first treble in Spanish football and the fifth in history. behind Celtic, Ajax, PSV and Manchester United. In an interview with the Argentine channel TyC Sports in 2019, the player chose that goal as the most important of his career.
In his first uninterrupted campaign, Messi had 18 assists and 38 goals in 62 games, nine of them in the Champions League, making him the top scorer of that edition. On the other hand, his goals, added to those of Eto’o (36) and Thierry Henry (26), gave a total of 100 goals in all competitions. Of those hundred, 70 were scored in La Liga, breaking the record of 66 goals set by Ferenc Puskás (28), Alfredo Di Stéfano (21) and Luis del Sol (17) for Real Madrid in the 1960-1961 season. Barcelona also surpassed its own record for most goals in a season (158), in which Messi had an incidence of 35.4%.
In July, Messi received the Alfredo Di Stéfano Trophy, which is awarded to the best player in Spain’s top division. Before presenting him with the award, Di Stéfano said he was the best in the world.
2009-2010: sextet and the first Golden Ball
On August 23, against Athletic Bilbao, Messi scored for the first time in the Spanish Super Cup. He scored two of his team’s three goals, which were champions. On the 28th, he gave a pass to Pedro, who scored the goal with which Barcelona won the European Super Cup 1-0 against Shakhtar Donetsk.
After missing Barcelona’s first La Liga match, he converted in the next three rounds and scored an average of one goal every 37 minutes, despite having played only one full game. On September 12, against Getafe, he entered the second half and scored the second goal of Barcelona’s 2-0 victory. He scored a brace in the 5–2 win against Atlético de Madrid on the 20th, when he played all ninety minutes, and another in the 4–1 win against Racing de Santander.
In September, when his contract was renewed until 2016, with a salary of eleven million euros and a buyout clause of 250 million, he was the highest-paid footballer in the world. In October, he was voted Player of the 2008–09 season at the first FLP Awards.
On December 18, he scored with his chest the 2–1 goal in the Club World Cup against Estudiantes de La Plata. Thus, the Pep Team, led by him, made Barcelona the first club to achieve a sextet.
On 10 January 2010, in a league match against Tenerife, Messi scored a hat trick in Barcelona’s 5–0 win and, on the following day, a brace in a 4–0 win. With the first of the two goals, he surpassed Mariano Martín’s mark as the youngest Barcelona player (twenty-two and a half years old) to score a hundred goals in official matches. On 14 March, against Valencia, he scored his fourth hat-trick for the club, which he won 3–0. For the last of his goals, he was nominated for the Puskás Award, but lost to Hamit Altintop.
A week later, he got a penalty and scored another hat-trick in the 4-2 win over Zaragoza, making him the author of nine of his team’s last ten goals. His performance was again highlighted by the international press, in notes where, in addition to comparing him with Maradona, he was pointed out as the best footballer in the world.
On April 5, in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, Barcelona beat Arsenal 4-1 with goals all from Messi who, with eight goals, was the tournament’s top scorer. The player received praise for this poker from various newspapers around the world. On April 28, Barcelona was eliminated in the semi-finals by Inter Milan and, on 16 May, beating Valladolid 4–0 with two goals from Messi, they were La Liga champions.
Messi finished the season with 47 goals, 34 of them in La Liga, a number not reached by a Barcelona player since Ronaldo in the 1996-1997 season. He received the Pichichi trophy (top scorer of La Liga) and the Golden Boot. In August, he was voted UEFA Striker and Player of the Year, as well as winning his first Golden Ball and FIFA World Player of the Year award, both times by the largest voting margin in the history of each trophy.
2010-2011: fifth league and third Champions League
On September 14, in the 2010-2011 Champions League, he scored a goal in the 5-1 against Panathinakós and became, with 27 goals, Barcelona’s all-time top scorer in the Champions League.
On 30 October, after a defeat in the first leg, he scored a hat-trick in the 4–0 win over Sevilla in the second leg, with which Barcelona won their first trophy of the 2010–11 campaign, the Spanish Super Cup.
On 20 November, in a La Liga match against Almería, he scored another hat-trick in the 8–0 of Barcelona, a goal difference that had not been recorded in that tournament since 1959. On the 29th he gave two assists to David Villa in the Clasico, the first with Mourinho in charge of Real Madrid, which Barcelona won 5-0 in another historic thrashing. He scored another hat-trick in the 3–0 draw against Atletico Madrid on 5 February 2011. Barcelona won sixteen games in a row in La Liga and broke Di Stéfano’s Madrid record for the 1960-1961 season. Guardiola commented that Messi had been decisive in reaching that number of games won.
On 8 March, Messi scored two goals in the 3–1 win over Arsenal in the knockout stages of the Champions League. For his first goal, he was selected for the Puskás Award, but lost to Neymar. He scored a brace again in the first leg of the semifinals, a 2–0 win against Real Madrid, on 27 April. In the final against Manchester United on May 28 at Wembley Stadium, he was decisive in his team’s game, not only for his goal, but also for his passes, pipes and dribbles. Barcelona won 3-1 and won their fourth European Cup. Again, Messi’s performance was highlighted by several newspapers in different countries.
With 53 goals and 24 assists all season, he became Barcelona’s all-time top scorer in a season. On the other hand, with twelve goals, he was the top scorer in the Champions League, which allowed him to equal the record of Ruud van Nistelrooy from 2002-2003 and become, after Gerd Müller and Jean-Pierre Papin, the third to hold that title three consecutive times.
On 10 January 2011, he received the inaugural FIFA Golden Ball, a combination of the Golden Ball for France Football and the FIFA World Player of the Year award, although he was criticized for having received that award, because with the Argentine National Team he had reached only the quarterfinals at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
2011-2012: a record season
In the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Real Madrid on 14 August, he provided an assist and scored a goal in a 2–2 draw. In the second leg, on the 17th, in the 5-4 with which Barcelona was champion, he scored two goals, so he reached eight and surpassed Raúl (7) as the top scorer of that competition. On the 26th, with a goal and an assist from him, Barcelona won the European Super Cup 2-0 against Porto.
On August 25, Messi received the inaugural award for Best Player in Europe.
On December 18, Barcelona won the Club World Cup final 4–0 against Santos with a brace from Messi, who received the tournament’s Golden Ball.
On January 9, 2012, with almost 50% of the votes, he again received the Golden Ball and became the fourth player in history to win it three times, after Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten. By then, he was widely considered one of the best footballers in history, alongside players like Maradona and Pelé.
On 18 February, in a La Liga match against Valencia that Barcelona won 5–1, he scored four goals. He scored that amount again (two penalties) on May 5, in the ante ultimate date against Espanyol, which Barcelona won 4-0 and was the last game managed by Guardiola. With his second poker of the season, he reached 50 goals in that competition and surpassed the record in a European league tournament, set by Dudu Georgescu with Dinamo Bucharest (47) in the 1976-1977 season.
On 7 March, scoring five times in a 7–1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of the 2011–12 Champions League knockout stage, he became the first player to score that many goals in a single match in the history of that tournament.
On March 20, against Granada at Camp Nou, after reaching 234 goals with a hat-trick, he displaced César (232) as Barcelona’s all-time top scorer in official matches.
On April 3, in the second leg of the quarterfinals, Barcelona beat Milan 3-1 with two penalties from Messi and went to the fifth consecutive semifinal in its history. The player, on the other hand, scored his 14th goal in that edition and the 50th in the Champions League, which equaled Raúl, van Nistelrooy and Thierry Henry in total number of goals and reached the record of José Altafini of the 1962-1963 season, which would be surpassed by Cristiano Ronaldo (17) in 2013-2014. He was also the top scorer for the fourth consecutive time, equalling Gerd Müller’s record for the years 1972-1977.
During the 2011–12 season, as he became a combination of a number 8 (a creator), a 9 (scorer) and a 10 (assistant), he increased his scoring ability in all club competitions, in which he scored seven hat-tricks, two pokers and one repoker.
With 50 goals in 31 games, he was La Liga’s top scorer and player with the best goal average (1.61) in a season, two records, while his 73 goals in all competitions (14 in the Champions League, 3 in the Copa del Rey, 2 in the Club World Cup, 3 in the Spanish Super Cup and 1 in the European Super Cup) surpassed Gerd Müller’s 67 in the 1972–73 season of the Bundesliga, so he became the top scorer in official competitions and top scorer in a season. To those scored with Barcelona, nine were added with the Argentine national team, so he was, with 82 goals, the all-time top scorer in a season in official competitions.
Messi dependency
2012-2013: with Tito Vilanova
Under the guidance of new coach Tito Vilanova, during the second half of 2012, Barcelona had its best start to the season in La Liga, with 55 points accumulated in the middle of the competition, a record in Spanish football.
By the end of March, Messi had scored in nineteen consecutive La Liga matches, something unprecedented in that competition. By converting a brace on December 9 against Betis, he reached 192 goals in La Liga and 86 (74 in his club and 12 with the national team) on the year. He broke two historical records: César Rodríguez’s 190 goals in La Liga, so he became Barcelona’s all-time top scorer in that competition (192 in 228 games), and Müller’s most goals in a calendar year, who in 1972 scored 85 with Bayern Munich (72) and West Germany (13).
The German player, in an interview with the Sport1 channel, congratulated him for having broken his forty-year record and Messi, in recognition, sent him a Barcelona shirt with the number 10, which read “For Gerd Müller / My respect and admiration / A hug”. With those 86 goals, he entered the Guinness World Records for the number of goals (club and selection) scored in a calendar year, although FIFA cited verifiability issues and did not acknowledge the achievement.
Messi extended that result in the last matches of La Liga and Copa del Rey (two against Córdoba Club de Fútbol, two against Real Madrid and one against Valladolid), so that he ended the year with 91 goals, of which 79 were with his club (59 in the League, 13 in the Champions League, 5 in the Copa del Rey and 2 in the Super Cup), which made him Barcelona’s top scorer in a calendar year. Among those goals, 25 were caps (13 in the Champions League and 12 in her national team), equalling Vivian John Woodward’s record of 1909.
As a favorite, he received the Golden Ball again, making him the only player to win that award four times in a row. He was also included in FIFA/FIFPro World XI for the sixth consecutive year.
In December, he renewed his contract until 2018, with a net salary of 13 million euros.
On January 27, 2013, he scored his fourth poker in a 5–1 home win against Osasuna. On March 17, he wore the captain’s armband for the first time, in a league match against Rayo Vallecano; by then, he had become the team’s tactical focal point to a degree that was only compared to former Barcelona players Josep Samitier, László Kubala and Cruyff. On May 5 against Betis, he entered the second half and, in five minutes, tied the match that Barcelona won 4-2. He scored in twenty-one consecutive matches, which allowed him to reach a new world record for most consecutive matches scoring, which until then belonged to Josef Bican.
Since his evolution to a fake nine three years earlier, his involvement in the team’s attack had increased: from 36.1% of goals (2009–10) to 40.5% (2012–13). Barcelona’s dependence on the Argentine player was pointed out by both Evarist Murtra, a former director of the club, and his teammate Iniesta. In the same vein, Piqué commented that “his presence on the field of play is enough to raise our morale and the level of play”.
2013-2014: with Tata Martino
Messi had an irregular start to the season under new coach Gerardo Martino.
On November 10, in a match against Betis, he suffered the third injury of the season when he injured his left femoral biceps, which left him out of play for two months. He came in second place in the Golden Ball voting, ending his four-year lead over Cristiano Ronaldo.
On March 13, 2014, Barcelona won 4-3 against Real Madrid with a hat-trick from Messi, who added 21 goals and surpassed Di Stéfano (18) as the all-time scorer of El Clasico.
For the first time in five years, Barcelona finished the season without a major trophy: on April 9, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Champions League after losing 1–0 to Atlético de Madrid, they were defeated 2–1 on April 16 in the Copa del Rey final by Real Madrid and, on May 17, they lost the league by drawing 1–1 in the last match against Atlético de Madrid. In the first two matches, Messi played well below his level.
After prolonged speculation about his future with the club, in May he renewed his contract until 2018, which increased his pay to 20 million euros gross annually, the highest salary in football.
MSN
2014-2015: second treble
With Luis Enrique as the new coach, on February 15 in a La Liga match against Rayo Vallecano, he scored two goals in Barcelona’s 6-0 thrashing. He thus reached 337 goals with his club, so he surpassed Telmo Zarra (335 in Athletic Club) as top scorer of a Spanish club in the different tournaments. On March 16, with a double in the 7-0 against Osasuna, he reached 371 goals (344 in official matches and 27 in friendlies) and became the top scorer of Barcelona, a mark that belonged to Paulino Alcántara (142 officials and 227 in friendlies) since 1917.
With a hat-trick against Sevilla on November 22, he became the all-time top scorer in La Liga as, with 253 goals, he surpassed Zarra’s record of 251 after fifty-nine years. On 24 November, in a 2014-2015 Champions League match against APOEL in Cyprus, he scored 74 goals with a hat-trick, making him the all-time top scorer of that tournament and the European Cup. He achieved that record in 91 games, while the previous starter, Raúl, had needed 142 to score 71 goals. With a third hat-trick in the 5-1 win over Espanyol on 7 December, he surpassed Cesar’s twelve goals as Barcelona’s top scorer.
At the beginning of 2015, it was perceived that Barcelona would have another bad season and in the media, there was speculation that Messi would leave the club. The player, on the other hand, came from a year in which he had been the center of criticism because his performance had not been the best. However, on January 11, in the 3-1 win over Atletico Madrid, each of the members of the attacking trident of Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar, nicknamed “MSN”, scored a goal, which marked the beginning of a period of great success.
After five years of playing as a false nine, Messi returned to his former right-wing position late last year. From there, he regained his best form, arguably the best of his career, while Suarez and Neymar ended the team’s offensive dependence on their star player. With 58 goals and 31 assists from Messi, the trio scored a total of 122 goals in all competitions that season, a record in Spanish football.
On 28 April, Messi scored two goals in a 6–0 win over Getafe, his second from a penalty, his first for Panenka. In an interview with RAC1, Antonin Panenka described that shot as the “best I’ve ever seen”. On May 17, Barcelona won La Liga, with a goal from Messi in a 1–0 away win over Atletico Madrid. In the Copa del Rey final on 30 May, Messi scored a brace in the 3–1 win over Athletic Bilbao.
He started his first goal as a right winger near midfield and dribbled past four defenders before scoring in a small space. The goal was voted the best of his career in a poll conducted by the newspaper Sport, while La Vanguardia described it as an “impossible goal” that “will go down in the annals of the history of the competition”. Messi was nominated for the Puskás Award but came in second. The club achieved the sixth double in its history.
In the knockout stages, quarterfinals and semifinals of the Champions League, Messi was decisive in his team’s game. On 6 May, in the first leg of the semi-final semi-finals at home, he scored two of Barcelona’s three goals as Barcelona beat Bayern Munich 3–0. His second goal, converted from Vaseline after eluding Jerôme Boateng, was chosen in a vote organized by UEFA as the best of the competition. In the final on June 6 in Berlin, defeating Juventus 3–1, Barcelona won their second treble and became the first team in history to do so. In the fourth Champions League he won, Messi, top assist (6) and, along with Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo, scorer (10) of the tournament, received for the second time the award for the Best Player in Europe by a large majority of votes (49, against three for Luis Suárez and two for Cristiano Ronaldo).
2015-2016: domestic success
On August 11, Barcelona won their fifth UEFA Super Cup at Boris Paichadze Stadium, beating Sevilla 4-5 in extra time. Messi, with a double, reached all three goals in that tournament and became the top scorer, along with Oleh Blokhin, Radamel Falcao, Arie Haan, Terry McDermott, Gerd Müller, Rob Rensenbrink, David Fairclough and François Van der Elst. In addition, by winning his twenty-sixth trophy, he surpassed Di Stéfano as the Argentine player with the most titles.
On August 17, Barcelona lost the Spanish Super Cup against Athletic Bilbao, after a 4–0 defeat in the first leg and a 1–1 draw in the second leg, with Messi’s goal.
On September 26, in a match against Las Palmas, he tore the left tibial collateral ligament, which prevented him from playing for almost two months.
On January 11, he won his fifth Golden Ball, a record. At the pre-award press conference, he had said: “I prefer a World Cup to five Golden Balls. The collective trophies are above the individual ones. It would be the most to win a World Cup”.
On February 23, in the second round of the 2015-2016 Champions League, he scored, in the last twenty minutes of play, a goal and a penalty with which his team won 2-0 against Arsenal. It was the first time Barcelona could win at the Emirates Stadium and Messi converted Petr Cech after six games. On this, the goalkeeper had said: “It’s fantastic, not many can say that they have played so many times against Messi and that I have not found a way to score him”.
On May 22, he gave Jordi Alba a pass and Barcelona got their second consecutive domestic double by winning 2-0 in extra time in the 2016 Copa del Rey final against Sevilla. That season, Messi surpassed his 2012 mark for the best scoring start in a calendar year (by mid-March, he had made 24), scoring 41 goals and providing 23 assists, while Barcelona’s attacking trio, with 131 goals, broke their own record from the previous season.
2016-2017: fourth Golden Boot
On 14 August, in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, Messi was involved in Munir’s 2–0 win over Sevilla and, in the second leg on the 17th, provided an assist to Arda Turan and scored a goal in the 3–0. It was his seventh Super Cup win and the first in which he lifted the trophy as captain in the absence of Iniesta, who was injured.
On 13 September, in a 2016–2017 Champions League group stage match, he scored a hat-trick in a 7–0 win against Celtic, in what was Barcelona’s biggest win in the history of that tournament. He thus reached 515 goals between club and selection, so he surpassed Di Stéfano as the top Argentine scorer in history.
On September 21, in a La Liga match against Atletico Madrid, he tore his right thigh and went three weeks without playing. He returned against Manchester City on 19 October and scored another hat-trick. On the 23rd, in the second leg with Celtic, he scored a goal and a penalty (his 100th goal in international championships with the club), with which his team won 2-0 and went to the second round. Ramon Besa, in El País, described him as a “total player” whose “prominence is lately so absolute that he questions not only the football of the opponent but of Barcelona itself”.
On January 11, 2017, after winning 3-1 against Athletic with goals from each of the members of the MSN, Barcelona went to the quarterfinals of the 2016-2017 Copa del Rey. On the 26th, Messi scored a penalty in the 5-2 second leg against Real Sociedad and converted again on February 1, in the first leg of the semifinals against Atletico Madrid. Although he did not score in the second leg, he was his team’s best and his shot on goal, rejected by Miguel Ángel Moyá, was taken advantage of by Luis Suárez to score the first goal of the 1–1.
On 14 February, Barcelona lost 0–4 at the Parc des Princes in the second round to Paris Saint-Germain, but on 8 March, in the second leg at Camp Nou, they won 6–1, an unprecedented event in the history of Europe’s top competition. They went to the quarterfinals and became the only Spanish team that could still reach the treble. However, he was eliminated by Juventus after losing the first leg 3-0 and drawing goalless on April 19 at Camp Nou, where Messi played below his level.
In a Clasico de Liga on April 23, he was the linchpin of his team’s game, as well as scoring a brace in Barcelona’s 3-2 win. After beating Eibar 4-2 with two goals from Messi, Barcelona were runners-up in La Liga on May 21 and won the Copa del Rey on May 27 by beating Deportivo Alavés 3-1 in the final, with a goal and an assist from Messi. It was Luis Enrique’s farewell match as coach and the last official match played at the Vicente Calderón. Messi finished the season with 54 goals and 19 assists, won his fourth Golden Boot and, for his 37 La Liga goals, his third Pichichi.
Local dominance with Ernesto Valverde and difficult years in the Champions League
2017-2018: domestic double and fifth Golden Boot
On September 12, in the first match of the Champions League 2017-2018, Messi made a double in the 3-0 against Juventus and for the first time he was able to convert Gianluigi Buffon.
On 19 September, in a La Liga match against Eibar that Barcelona won 6–1, he scored his fourth poker in that competition and surpassed his own 2011-2012 season record for most goals scored (9) in the first five matches.
Following Neymar’s departure from PSG in August, MSN was dissolved, adding 364 goals and 211 assists in three seasons.
On October 18, against Olympiacos in the Champions League, Messi scored his 100th goal in all UEFA club competitions. He was the first non-European player to do so and the second behind Cristiano Ronaldo, although he did so in twenty-one games less.
On November 25, he renewed until 2021 his contract with Barcelona, which stipulated a gross salary of 55 million euros and increased the buyout clause to 700 million.
On 23 December, he scored a goal in a La Liga Clasico that Barcelona won 3–0.
On 14 March 2018, in the 3–0 quarter-final against Chelsea, he arrived with a double to one hundred goals in the Champions League. Again, he was behind Cristiano Ronaldo, but scored the goals in 123 games, while the Portuguese needed 144.
On 21 April, in the 5–0 win over Sevilla in the 2018 Copa del Rey final, he scored the team’s second goal and then assisted on Suárez’s second and Iniesta’s. Barcelona won their fourth consecutive title and thirtieth overall. On April 29, in a La Liga match, Messi, with a hat-trick in the 4-2 away win over Deportivo de La Coruña, reached his 30th goal of the season, making him the first player in La Liga history to score at least 30 goals in seven different editions.
With this result, and four rounds from the end of the tournament, Barcelona won its twenty-fifth La Liga. On May 6, in a 2–2 draw in La Liga, Messi scored what would be his last goal in the Clasico, as he did not convert any in the next seven matches they played. On May 9, Barcelona, with a goal from Messi, defeated Villarreal 5–1 and thus went 43 consecutive games without losing, a record in La Liga history.
At the end of the season, with 34 goals, Messi received the Pichichi and also won his fifth Golden Boot.
2018-2019: captaincy, tenth League and sixth Golden Boot
Following Iniesta’s departure in May, he was named team captain for the following season. On August 12, after the 2-1 win over Sevilla, he lifted his first title as captain, the Spanish Super Cup.
On September 2, for a 2018-2019 La Liga match against Huesca that Barcelona won 8-2, he made a double and gave three assists.
On September 18, in the group stage of the 2018-2019 Champions League, in the match that Barcelona won 4-0 against PSV, he scored a hat-trick, the number 42 with his club and his eighth in the Champions League, which allowed him to set a new record in that tournament. On 28 November, Barcelona beat PSV 2–1 with a goal from Piqué and another from Messi, who became the player with the most goals for the same team (106) in that competition.
On 20 October, he assisted Philippe Coutinho and scored a goal in the 4–2 home win over Sevilla, but had to retire in the 26th minute after fracturing his right radial bone in a fall, which prevented him from playing for about three weeks. On 16 December, in Barcelona’s 5–0 win against Levante, he assisted Luis Suárez on the first goal and, by scoring his 31st hat trick in La Liga, became Barcelona’s player with the most hat-tricks and pokers (31 and 5) in that tournament.
He finished the year with 51 goals in 54 games (club and national team), which is why UEFA named him Europe’s top scorer for 2018.
On 17 March 2019, he scored a hat-trick in the 4–1 win over Betis. For one of those goals, he was a candidate for the Puskás Award but lost to Daniel Zsóri.
On 16 April, after six years without scoring in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, he scored a brace for a 3–0 win over Manchester United.
On 27 April, against Levante, he came on in the second half and scored the only goal in a 1–0 home win that allowed Barcelona to claim their twenty-sixth La Liga title three games before the tournament ended, the first with Messi as captain. He was also, with 416 goals in 449 games, the tournament’s all-time top scorer and the player with the most league titles (10) in the history of Barcelona and the second in Spanish football: he equaled Pirri’s number and was behind Paco Gento (12).
On April 30, he was awarded the Cross of Sant Jordi, awarded by the Generalitat of Catalonia, in recognition of “his fabulous sporting career, which has led him to be recognized as the best footballer of all time”. He is the third athlete to achieve this distinction, after Gemma Mengual and Johan Cruyff.
On 1 May, in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, he scored a brace in the 3–0 home win against Liverpool. His second goal, from a free kick, his 600th for Barcelona, was voted by UEFA as the best of the season. Six days later, in the second leg at London’s Anfield stadium, Barcelona were eliminated after losing 4-0. Despite the elimination of his team, Messi, with twelve goals, was elected Striker of the Season.
On 19 May, in Barcelona’s last league match, he scored two goals in a 2–2 away draw against Eibar (his 49th and 50th goals of the season in all competitions). Thus, with 36 goals in 34 appearances, he received his sixth Pichichi. On the 25th, he scored a goal in a 2–1 loss to Valencia in the Copa del Rey final. It was the sixth Cup final in which he scored.
2019-2020: sixth Golden Ball and Laureus Award
On August 5, it was announced that Messi would not participate in Barcelona’s tour of the United States, as he had injured his right calf. By the end of that month, as he had not yet recovered, he also did not play the first game of the season.
On 23 September he won The Best 2019, on 16 October, his sixth Golden Boot (the third in a row, a record), on 25 November, UEFA included him in the Best Team of the 21st century and on 1 December he became the first footballer to receive the Golden Ball six times.
“I would have liked to play with Messi”
Comment by Pelé in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport in November 2019 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his thousandth goal.
In a 2019-2020 La Liga match on December 7 against Mallorca at Camp Nou, he scored his thirty-fifth hat-trick, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo as the player with the most hat-tricks in the Spanish first division. Until that date, it had generated up to 64% of the team’s goals, so its impact on the collective game was much greater than in previous years.
At home in the 4-1 against Alavés on the 21st, he arrived for the ninth time and sixth consecutive to 50 goals (45 with the club and 5 with the national team) in a calendar year.
On January 9, 2020, in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup, he became the player with the most games played in that competition, in addition to reaching his 14th goal.
With Quique Setién as the new coach, Messi delayed his position on the field and went on to play more than 10 than false 9, which meant a decrease in the number of goals and an increase in assists. He scored a goal in a 1–0 draw against Granada on 19 January, the day of Setién’s debut, but did not do so again until 22 February, when he converted the sixth and fastest poker of his career in a match against Eibar.
On February 17, after six nominations, he became the first footballer and the first Argentine to receive the Laureus Award for the best sportsman of the year.
In the 2–2 draw against Real Madrid on 30 June, he scored his 700th goal (630 with his club and 70 with the national team), an amount that only Romario, Bican, Puskás, Pelé, Gerd Müller and Cristiano Ronaldo had achieved. On July 19, in the last match of the season, after his double in the 5-0 against Alavés, he was the top scorer (25) and best provider of assists (21) in La Liga, which broke the record of 20, belonging to Xavi.
On July 16, despite Messi’s provisional draw, Barcelona lost 2–1 to Osasuna. With this result and with Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Villarreal, they were runners-up in La Liga a day before the tournament ended.
On August 8 at Camp Nou, in the second leg of the knockout round of the 2019-2020 Champions League against Napoli, he scored two goals (the second, annulled for having used his hand) and obtained a penalty that Luis Suárez executed. His goal was chosen by UEFA as the best of the season. With a 3-1 win, Barcelona qualified for the quarterfinals against Bayern Munich. On August 15, Messi suffered the worst defeat of his entire career when Bayern Munich crushed Barcelona 8-2 in a single match in Lisbon.
Desire to leave Barcelona
Following his growing discontent with Barcelona’s management on and off the pitch, on 25 August Messi told the club’s lawyers that he would terminate his contract under clause 24, which allowed him to leave without having to pay the €700 million buyout clause. However, Barcelona said that clause had expired on June 10, to which the player’s lawyers responded that, due to the suspension of tournaments due to the COVID pandemic, August 23 should be considered as the end date of the season.
Messi’s decision, in addition to having a significant media impact, was supported by current and former teammates and even by Catalan President Quim Torra. The next day, Ramon Planes, Barcelona’s sporting director, reiterated the club’s desire to “build a team around the most important player in the world” and said the board unanimously wanted him to stay. On August 30, La Liga issued a statement stating that the contract and termination clause were still active.
On September 4, Jorge Messi sent a letter in response to La Liga in which he stated that one of the clauses of the contract stated that the “compensation will not apply when the termination of the contract by the unilateral decision of the player takes effect from the end of the 2019-20 sports season.” Moments later, La Liga reiterated its August 30 statement.
That night, in an interview with Goal, Messi announced that he would continue until the final year of his contract and that he had reported on his desire to leave several times and that president Josep Bartomeu had said he could decide at the end of each season whether to stay or leave, but Bartomeu was referring only to the buyout clause. This left the player with two options: stay or go to trial against the club, but he stated: “I would never go on trial against the club of my life”.
Stage with Ronald Koeman and farewell to the club
2020-2021: All-time club top scorer
Messi joined pre-season training with new coach Ronald Koeman on Sept. 7, a week after they had started. Five days later, he participated in a friendly against Nástic de Tarragona that Barcelona won 3-1.
On September 19, Barcelona won the Joan Gamper Trophy 1-0 against Elche. On the 26th against Villarreal, for the first date of La Liga 2020-2021, Messi equaled the mark of Xavi and Rexach of players with the most seasons at the club (17). On November 7, for the ninth round of La Liga against Betis at Camp Nou, he entered the second half and scored two (one penalty) of the five goals with which Barcelona won 5-2.
On 14 December, he was included as a right winger in the Golden Ball Dream Team and on 17 December, in the FIFA/FIFPro World XI Dream Team of the Year.
On the 19th, for the fourteenth round of the League, Barcelona drew 2-2 at home against Valencia. Messi, after missing a penalty against Jaume Doménech, in the same play he finished with a header and scored the first goal in the ’49th minute, which equaled the 643 goals of Pelé with Santos. The Brazilian player congratulated him on Instagram for the achievement and for his career at the club, while expressing his admiration.
On December 21, when receiving his seventh Pichichi trophy, the fourth in a row, he surpassed Zarra in the number of awards and equaled Di Stefano and Hugo Sánchez, who also received him in four consecutive editions, and Gerd Müller and Eusebio as the most times best scorer in their respective leagues.
He surpassed Pelé’s record as the top scorer in football history at the same club on Dec. 22, after scoring the last goal in Barcelona’s 3-0 away win at Valladolid.
In 2021, he had the second-best league start of his career, with four goals before January 10.
In January, the IFFHS chose him as the best player of 2020 of the Conmebol and best creator of play of the decade 2011-2020, in addition to including him in the best world teams and Conmebol of the Decade 2011-20. On 7 February, he named him Player of the Decade 2011–2020.
On January 17, in the final of the Spanish Super Cup won 3–2 by Athletic Club, Messi received his first red card with Barcelona after a cross with Asier Villalibre. After serving a two-match suspension, he returned against Rayo Vallecano in a Copa del Rey match, which Barcelona won 2–1 with a goal from his own. Having participated in 76 matches, he surpassed Josep Samitier as his club’s player with the most matches in the history of that tournament.
On January 31, his renewal contract with Barcelona in 2017 was published, which was, until that date, the largest in the history of the sport.
On January 1, 2021, the IFFHS placed him in the second place of Best Scorer of the 21st century, behind Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi had scored 715 official goals (451 in the Spanish league, 67 in national cups, 126 in international club competitions and 71 in the Argentine national team).
On February 16, for the knockout stages of the 2020-2021 Champions League at Camp Nou, Messi converted, from a penalty, the only goal of the locals, who lost 4-1 against PSG. On 10 March, he scored the goal in a 1–1 draw and missed a penalty in the second leg, in which Barcelona was eliminated. It would be his last game in that competition with the club.
On 15 March, with two goals in the 4–1 win against Huesca, he became the first player to score at least twenty goals for thirteen consecutive seasons in La Liga. On the 21st, against Real Sociedad at the Reale Arena, he displaced Xavi as the player with the most official matches in the club’s history (768 against 767) and scored his 700th goal in the team (663 in official matches and 37 in friendlies).
On April 17, in the final of the Copa del Rey, played at the La Cartuja stadium in Seville, Barcelona beat Athletic 4-0 with two goals from Messi, who won his first cup as captain. He was named best player of the match, equaled, along with Piqué and Sergio Busquets, the seven cups won by Piru Gaínza and José María Belauste and, with nine goals, surpassed Zarra (eight) as the top scorer in finals of that tournament, in addition to beating his own record for the number of finals in which he scored (seven, of ten plays). He also became the player who scored more than thirty goals in all competitions for thirteen consecutive seasons and the winner of the most titles (35) in Barcelona’s history.
Against Getafe on April 22, with two goals in Barcelona’s 5-2 victory, Messi reached 469 in La Liga and surpassed Pelé (468) as the top scorer in the same league. His record, however, eventually stood at 474 goals, when he scored, with a header, against Celta de Vigo on 16 May at Camp Nou, which led him to be the tournament’s all-time top scorer. This would be his last game with Barcelona, the 778, and in which he scored his 672nd goal. That amount of goals earned him to be recognized by the IFFHS as the top scorer in the history of the same club.
On 21 May, Koeman gave him permission to bring forward his holiday, so he did not play against Eibar in the last match of La Liga, in which Barcelona finished in third place.
Without having clarified whether or not he would renew his contract, on May 26 he traveled to Argentina to begin training for the 2022 World Cup and Copa América qualifiers.
End of contract
When his contract expired on June 30, Messi became a free agent, but negotiations to continue at Barcelona were underway. On July 14, and although some details of the contract still needed to be adjusted, it transpired that he would sign for five more years and the salary would be reduced by half. On August 7, however, and despite the fact that La Liga had approved the new contract, Laporta told Jorge Messi that, due to budget issues, he could not renew the player.
On August 5, 2021, Barcelona announced that it could not keep Messi, as doing so implied exceeding the spending cap provided by La Liga. Messi left the club with thirty-five titles won (including ten La Liga and four Champions Leagues). In the farewell conference at the Auditori 1899 at Camp Nou, he said: “I don’t know if the club did it, but I am clear that I did everything possible to stay. It was all arranged. I cut my salary by 50%. The rest is a lie. And then nobody asked me for anything else”.
Paris Saint-Germain F.C.
2021-2022: eighth Pichichi and seventh Golden Ball
On August 10, Messi signed Paris Saint-Germain to a two-year contract, with the option to extend it for one season. His salary was set at 6.5 million euros and he was given the number 30, the same with which he debuted in Barcelona. That same day, the club announced his arrival with a video on their social media.
On the 29th, Messi played his first match against Stade de Reims, for the fourth round of Ligue 1. He entered the field in the ’65th minute, replacing Neymar. The match ended 0-2 in favor of the Parisian team. On 28 September, he scored his first goal for PSG, in the 74th minute after a wall with Mbappé, on matchday two of Group A of the Champions League against Guardiola’s Manchester City, with a 2–0 victory for the Parisians at the Parc des Princes. He thus reached Benzema’s mark of seventeen consecutive seasons scoring.
On 19 October, in the 3–2 win against Leipzig in the third qualifying match in the Champions League, he scored his first double, the second goal, from a Panenka-style penalty, after a foul on Mbappé in the rival area.
“Messi will be the player who wins the most Golden Balls in history. He’ll probably win five, six or seven Golden Balls, he’s unstoppable.”
Johan Cruyff to the Argentine newspaper Olé in January 2012, when Messi was a candidate for his third Golden Ball.
On 20 November, for the fourteenth round, he scored his first goal in Ligue 1 in the 3–1 win against Nantes. On the 28th, he scored a hat-trick of assists against Saint-Étienne, two to Marquinhos and one to Ángel Di María, in the 1-3 for the visitors at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium.
The next day, he won his eighth Pichichi and his seventh Golden Ball. Journalists, players and former players questioned this choice, to such an extent that France Football decided to modify the selection and evaluation criteria of the award.
On December 7, on the last day of qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League, he scored another double in the 4-1 win against Club Brugge. In that match, he equaled Cristiano Ronaldo as the player who has scored goals in European competition for the most teams (38) and, with 758 goals as a professional, surpassed Pelé (757).
In December, the IFFHS included him in the Conmebol team of the year and recognized him as the best player and playmaker of that confederation.
During his vacation in Argentina, Messi contracted coronavirus, so he had to be isolated at his home in Funes since December 28. After testing negative in a new PCR, on January 5 he was able to return to Paris, where he would be tested to rule out sequelae. On the 22nd he played his first match of the year, for the twenty-second round of Ligue 1 against Reims. He entered the second half of the match, which his team won 4-0.
On 17 January, he was inducted into FIFA/FIFPro World XI for the fifteenth consecutive time.
On 31 January 2022, against Nice in the knockout stages of the 2021–22 Coupe de France, Messi played a regular match, but scored in the penalty shootout after a 0–0 draw. PSG lost 6-5 and was eliminated, having won that tournament in six of the previous seven years.
On February 15, in the second round of the 2021-22 Champions League against Real Madrid, he missed a penalty in the first leg that ended 1-0 with a goal from Mbappé. In the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on March 9, PSG was eliminated after losing 3-1. Some French media criticized Messi’s performance in both matches: L’Équipe rated him first with a 3 and with a 6 in the second match, for which Le Parisien put him a 4. In the next home game, against Bordeaux, the PSG players were booed and whistled, especially Messi and Neymar.
With 125 goals, Messi was second on the list of all-time top scorers in the Champions League, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, with 140. Both players are the only ones to have scored more than a hundred times in the history of that tournament.
On 23 April, he won his first title with PSG, Ligue 1. With eleven goals and fourteen assists in 33 games, he played the least and scored season, except for the first two with Barcelona.
2022-2023
On July 31, at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Messi scored, with his right, the first goal of the 4-0 against Nantes, a result with which PSG won the French Super Cup, its first title of the season.
On August 6, in the first round of Ligue 1, played at the Stade Gabriel Montpied against Clermont Foot, he scored a brace in his team’s 5–0 win. The second goal, scored by Chilean, was the first he scored in this way.
In January 2023, the IFFHS recognized him as Best International Scorer and Best Player in the World, in the second case by a significant difference of votes (275 against 35 and 30) with Mbappé and Benzema.
Messi and the National team
Lower categories
In 2002, Jorge Messi sent Hugo Tocalli, head of Argentina’s youth divisions, a compilation video of his son’s plays. Despite recognizing the qualities of the teenager, the coach replied that he could not incorporate him into the squad, because he had already defined the team for the World Cup the following year in Finland, but that he would take it into account for another competition. In 2003, however, and although he knew that the Spanish Football Federation wanted to sign him for their under-17 team, they also did not call him up for the U-20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
On March 30, 2004, he met with the president of the AFA Julio Grondona and, at the suggestion of José Pékerman (who had seen Messi against Alcorcón), proposed to organize a friendly match to prevent any possibility of him playing for Spain. In April, Messi finally received a fax summons for a June training session at the Ezeiza grounds. The player had already declined, around 2003, repeated offers to play for Spain, because he wanted to represent his country.
On June 29, 2004, almost unknown in Argentina, he debuted at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium in Buenos Aires, in the under-20 category, in a friendly match with an under-22 of Paraguay armed for the occasion refereed by Gabriel Brazenas. He came on in the second half for Ezequiel Lavezzi and made a goal and two assists in a match that ended 8-0 in favor of Argentina. On July 3, against Uruguay at the Suppicci Stadium in Cologne, he scored a brace in another friendly that Argentina won 4–1. With only these two games played, at the end of December Tocalli summoned him for the South American U-20 at the beginning of the following year, although, by joint decision with Pékerman, he would always play as a substitute.
2005 South American U-20
In Argentina’s first match at Colombia’s South American U-20 Championship on January 13 against Venezuela, Messi came on in the 59th minute for Lavezzi and scored the second goal of the 3–0. On the 15th, he converted a brace in the 4-0 win over Bolivia. He started for the first time on the 17th in the 6-0 against Peru, where he scored the fifth goal. In the 1-1 with Colombia on the 21st, he was again a substitute and did not convert.
In the hexagonal final, Argentina won 1–0 against Venezuela, with a goal against José Luis Granados on January 25, drew 1–1 with Chile on the 27th, 0–0 against Uruguay on the 30th and 1–1 with Colombia on February 2. On February 6, in the Americas classic against Brazil, he won 2–1 with a goal from Messi, who had come on in the 65th minute, and qualified third for the World Cup tournament that would take place in the Netherlands. Messi, with five goals, ranked second in the scoring table.
2005 U-20 World Cup
On June 11, Messi did not start Argentina’s first game at the U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands against the United States, but he did start in the other six. As he had not wanted to demand it because he had a contracture, coach Francisco Ferraro made him enter in the second half of the match that Argentina lost 1-0.
In the 2–0 win against Egypt on the 14th, Messi scored a goal and, on the 18th, started with a cross the play of Neri Cardozo’s goal in the 1–0 against Germany. On the 22nd, in the second round, he put the partial 1-1 in the 2-1 against Colombia, in the quarterfinals on the 25th, provided an assist and scored the last goal in the 3–1 against Spain and, on the 28th in the semifinals, scored the first goal of the 2–1 against Brazil. In the final against Nigeria on 2 July, he executed two penalties with which his team won 2–1. At the end of the championship, he received the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball.
His participation in the two youth tournaments meant a greater impact at the international level and also that he began to become known in Argentina. Towards the end of that year, the newspaper La Nación pointed to him as the revelation of Argentine football and possible successor to Maradona, while Clarín awarded him the Clarín de Oro for Revelation of the Year and the Círculo de Periodistas Deportivos, the Olimpia award.
2008 Olympic Games
On 24 May 2008, Messi played for the first time with the under-23 team, managed by Sergio Batista, in a friendly against Catalonia that Argentina won 1–0.
On June 17, Barcelona informed the AFA that it would not give Messi for the Beijing Olympics because it considered that, since it was not an official FIFA competition, the regulations did not oblige him and because he wanted to have “one of the key pieces of the team” in the preliminaries of the Champions League. The AFA then requested the intervention of FIFA, which ruled that it was mandatory to transfer players under the age of twenty-three. Consequently, on July 3, the coach included him in the squad that would play in Beijing, with the idea that it would be his “main offensive card”.
As Barcelona did not cease in its position, Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, anticipated on July 19 that, if it continued in its refusal, the club would not be able to count on Messi until August 24, while FIFA President Sepp Blatter demanded four days later that he let the player go. Following FIFA’s final ruling in favor of the AFA on July 30, Barcelona decided to take the dispute to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which on August 6 annulled the obligation to release him.
Messi, meanwhile, had traveled to Beijing on July 31, because Batista had said he could no longer wait for him. Finally, on August 8, Txiki Begiristain, Barcelona’s technical secretary, announced that he had agreed with Grondona that the player would be allowed to remain in Beijing, if the AFA paid for medical insurance in case of injury and did not call him for any friendly of the season.
On August 7, against Ivory Coast, Messi scored the first goal and assisted Lautaro Acosta in the second, with which Argentina won 2–1. He played against Australia on August 10, but not on August 13 against Serbia, as Batista had decided to reserve him for the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals against the Netherlands, he scored the first goal, after eluding the goalkeeper. After the opponent’s equaliser, in the last minute of the first extra time he gave a pass to Di Maria, who converted another goal. On August 19, against Brazil, he played a very good game, which ended 3-0 with two goals from Sergio Agüero and one from Juan Román Riquelme.
On August 23, after beating Nigeria 1-0 at the National Stadium, assisted by Messi for Di Maria’s goal, the Argentine players received Olympic gold.
Absolute selection
Pékerman stage
First calls (2005-2006)
On 2 August 2005, Pékerman called up Messi for the first time to play for the senior national team. The player made his debut on August 17 in a friendly with Hungary that Argentina won 2-1 at the Ferenc Puskás stadium in Budapest. He came on in the 66th minute and touched three balls, but 1m32s later he was sent off by Markus Merk after a sharp gesture towards defender Vilmos Vanczák, who had pulled him from the shirt.
He played his first official match on September 3, in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay in Asunción. He came on in the ’80th minute of the match that Argentina lost 1-0. He started on October 9 against Peru at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires, where he played for the first time in his native country. Although he was still little known, Argentine fans cheered him before and after the game, in which he was the figure. In the last round of qualifiers, on October 12 against Uruguay, he entered in the second half.
He played a friendly against Qatar on 16 November, which Argentina won 3–0, and on 1 March 2006 scored his first goal in another friendly against Croatia at St. Basel’s Jakob Park, which Argentina lost 3-2. He also played a very good match on May 30 in a friendly with Angola, won 2-1 by Argentina at the Arechi Stadium in Salerno.
2006 World Cup
Although Messi had played only three knockout matches, on 16 May Pékerman confirmed that he had been included in the twenty-three World Cup roster in Germany although, as he was not fully recovered from a tear suffered in March and had spent eighty-four days inactive, he had not yet decided whether or not he would start. The player, at eighteen years and 357 days, is the youngest Argentine footballer to participate in a World Cup. He made his debut in Argentina’s second match, against Serbia and Montenegro. He came on in the second half, provided an assist to Hernán Crespo, and scored the final 6–0 in the 88th minute, making him the youngest Argentine to score in a World Cup.
He started against the Netherlands (0-0) and, in the second round against Mexico, he entered in the 84th minute and scored a goal in stoppage time that would have marked the tiebreaker, but it was annulled by the linesman. It was then necessary to play extra time, in which Argentina won 2-1. Messi did not participate in the quarterfinals against Germany, which eliminated Argentina on penalties. Much of the press and general opinion, both Argentine and Spanish, criticized this decision of Pékerman, who announced his resignation at the post-match conference. He was succeeded by Alfio Basile, who was appointed in August and took office in September.
Basile Stage
On 3 September 2006, Messi played in Basile’s debut match, a friendly against Brazil played in London that Argentina lost 3–0. He also participated in the next friendly, on October 11 against Spain at the Nueva Condominas stadium in Murcia the locals won 2-1.
Copa America 2007
On June 5, 2007, in a friendly against Algeria, Messi scored his first double for the national team.
On June 28, in the 4–1 win against the United States in the Copa América, he played 79 minutes and provided an assist to Crespo. On July 2, against Colombia, he caused a penalty of 1-1 for a 4-2 in favor of Argentina, before being substituted in the 83rd minute. Against Paraguay on the 5th, he came on in the 67th minute of a match that ended 1-0.
In the quarterfinals on the 9th, he scored the second goal of the 4-0 against Peru. On the 12th, in the semifinals against Mexico, after Tevez’s pass, he scored a Vaseline goal in Argentina’s 3-0 win. After the game, Basile said: “Only geniuses are capable of scoring a goal like Messi did. The stadium had to be closed”. On July 15, in the final against Brazil, Argentina lost 3–0, with a goal against Roberto Ayala.
Messi was elected best young player and member of the “ideal eleven”.
On 16 October 2008, after losing 1–0 to Chile in South American qualifying the previous day, Basile submitted his resignation. He was succeeded by Diego Maradona.
Maradona Stage
As Barcelona had agreed with the AFA that he would not participate in friendlies, on 19 November Messi did not play in Maradona’s debut as coach, a match against Scotland that Argentina won 1–0, but did so in the following against France, on February 11, 2009, where he scored a goal in his team’s 2–0 win.
On March 28, in his first official match as coach, the 11th round of the qualifiers against Venezuela at the Monumental stadium, Maradona decided to give Messi the number 10 shirt. Messi was instrumental in Argentina’s 4-0 match, leading the attacking trio of Tevez and Aguero, scoring a goal and providing an assist for the second. The Argentine media highlighted his game, as well as the interest generated by the simultaneous presence of the two “10” in the team. On April 1, away against Bolivia, Messi kicked twice on goal, but failed to score in Argentina’s 6-1 loss, the first in which he conceded six goals since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.
In a friendly with Spain on November 14 he scored, from a penalty, the momentary 1-1 of a match that Argentina lost 2-1.
2010 World Cup
Messi arrived with great pressure to the World Cup in South Africa, because several considered him the successor of Maradona and his campaign in Barcelona outlined him to be the great figure of the tournament.
On June 12, in the 1-0 against Nigeria, he had a very good game and was, according to journalist Horacio Pagani, “responsible for 90% of the offensive maneuvers”. On the 17th, against South Korea, despite playing more late, he functioned as an organizer, hooker and striker and had an impact on all four goals of the 4-1. For the match against Greece on the 22nd, and in the absence of Mascherano in the squad, Maradona appointed Messi captain who, at twenty-two years old, became the youngest Argentine to fulfill that role in a World Cup. Argentina won 2-0 and Messi was voted Budweiser Player of the match. On the 27th, in the second round against Mexico, Argentina won 3–1, but was eliminated on July 3 in the quarterfinals, after losing 4–0 to Germany.
On July 27, the AFA announced that its steering committee had “unanimously” agreed to remove Maradona from office. He was succeeded by Batista who, after three months as interim coach, was made official on November 2.
Batista Stage
Messi participated in seven of the eleven friendlies that Batista began under management. In the coach’s debut, on August 10 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin against Ireland, which Argentina won 1-0, he did not score and was substituted in the 58th minute. Against Spain at home on 7 September, he scored the first goal of the 4–1, after not scoring since 14 November the previous year. On 11 November he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against Brazil and, with Japan on 9 October, generated several scoring chances, but they were not taken advantage of and Argentina lost 1–0. Already in 2011, on 9 February he drew a penalty kick in 2–1 against Portugal and, on 20 June, he scored a goal and provided two assists in the 4–0 win over Albania.
Copa America 2011
On 1 July 2011, Argentina, as the host country, played against Bolivia in the opening match of the Copa América, which ended 1–1. The press questioned the national team, especially Messi, for the low level of play: La Nación published that he had not played out of nine and that, “confused”, he had not associated with any of his teammates. Olé, for his part, noted that he had not been a leader and that the entire team had been overtaken by a “much inferior” opponent.
On July 6, after the goalless draw against Colombia, the Argentine players left the field between whistles and Messi, who had had a bad game, was questioned for not performing as in Barcelona. On the 11th, in the match against Costa Rica that Argentina won 3-0, Messi assisted on Agüero’s second goal and Di María’s. The audience again cheered his plays and the criticism towards him and his teammates decreased.
In the quarterfinals, in the Clásico del Río de la Plata, Pérez scored Uruguay’s first goal in the fifth minute, but Messi assisted Gonzalo Higuaín in the equalizer. After extra time, Uruguay won 4-5 on penalties. The Argentine team was heavily criticized after the defeat, which was also Batista’s last game as coach.
Despite not having scored goals, Messi made the most assists (three) and was voted best player of the match against Bolivia and Costa Rica.
After the AFA fired Batista on July 25, on August 5 Alejandro Sabella was appointed as the new technical director.
Sabella Stage
2014 World Cup Qualifiers
In September 2011, Sabella appointed Messi captain to replace Mascherano. The player debuted in his new role on the 2nd of that month in a friendly against Venezuela at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan stadium in Calcutta that Argentina won 1-0.
On October 7, in the first match of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers against Chile, Messi scored the second goal of the 4-1 in favor of his team. It was his first goal in two and a half years, after sixteen official matches without converting. On October 11, on the road, Argentina lost 1-0 for the first time to Venezuela.
On November 11, after the 1-1 draw with Bolivia, Messi was, along with Clemente Rodríguez, the only one to whom the scarce Argentine public did not whistle at the Monumental. On the 15th, in the 2-1 against Colombia, he was the figure of the match, for having scored the tying goal and having been fundamental for the second goal, scored by Agüero. The criticism of Messi then decreased, but he was still reproached for not being able to shine playing for his country as he did in his team.
On 29 February 2012, he scored his first hat trick for the national team in a friendly with Switzerland, which Argentina won 3–1 at the Stade de Suisse in Bern.
On June 2, he scored a goal in the 4–0 win over Ecuador. On 8 June, in a friendly against the Brazil under-23s played in New Jersey, he scored his second hat-trick for the national team. His last goal allowed to tie the 3-3 and Messi left the stadium cheered. In another friendly against Germany on 15 August, he scored a goal in a 3–1 win for Argentina.
On September 7, against Paraguay at the Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium in Córdoba, he scored his first free-kick goal for Argentina, which he won 3–1. The 11, like his teammates, did not play well in Lima against Peru, which ended 1-1. On October 16, at the National Stadium in Santiago, Argentina beat Chile 2–1 with a goal from Messi, which reached Gabriel Batistuta’s record of twelve goals in a calendar year. On November 12, against Uruguay, he scored two goals, the second from a free kick, for a 3–0 final. Argentina played its last match on November 14, a friendly with Saudi Arabia tied goalless.
On 22 March 2013, Messi scored a goal and made two assists in the 3–0 win over Chile at the Monumental Stadium. On the 26th, he did not play a good game in the 1–1 against Bolivia, he played only half an hour in the 0–0 against Colombia on 7 June and was also a substitute on the 12th in the 1–1 win over Ecuador. On June 14, when he scored a hat-trick in a friendly against Guatemala at Mateo Flores Stadium, he scored 35 goals for the national team and equaled Hernán Crespo as the second all-time top scorer.
On September 10, he scored two penalty goals and provided an assist to Agüero in Argentina’s 2–5 win over Paraguay. With this result, the Argentine team qualified for the World Cup when there were still two game dates left. Due to an injury to his right biceps femoris in late September, he was unable to play matches against Peru and Uruguay.
The Argentine team was in first place in the CONMEBOL qualifiers and Messi placed second in the scorers’ table, along with Luis Suárez.
2014 World Cup
On 15 June, in Argentina’s first World Cup match in Brazil, against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Messi scored the second goal, after a return on a wall with Higuaín, for a final 2–1 goal against Sead Kolašinac. On the 21st, against Iran with a very populated defense throughout the game, in the 91st minute, he shot from the edge of the box to put the 1-0. In the 3-2 win against Nigeria on the 25th, he scored his first brace in a World Cup: the first goal in the 3rd minute and the second, from a free kick, in the 45th minute.
On 1 July, after a 0–0 draw against Switzerland in the second round, in the 118th minute of extra time, he assisted Di María in the goal. Argentina beat Belgium 1-0 in the quarterfinals on July 5. On 9 July, after twenty-four years without reaching the semi-finals, he played against the Netherlands. After a 0-0 draw in the 90 minutes and extra time, he won 4-2 in the penalty shootout, in which Messi scored the first goal. On July 13, in the final with Germany at the Maracanã, after a 0–0 draw an extra time was played in which Mario Götze scored a goal in the 114th minute. Germany was the champion and Argentina, the runner-up.
Messi, who finished third in the scoring chart, was voted Man of the Match against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria and Switzerland. It thus equaled Wesley Sneijder’s record of four awards in the same edition. In addition, he received the Golden Ball, although he was not included in the ideal eleven. It was the first time that the choice fell on the FIFA Technical Study Group and not on journalists accredited for the competition. The award ceremony was objected to by journalists, players, former players, technical directors and social media users. Some claimed that they had given it to him because his sponsor, Adidas, was the same as that of the championship, while others alluded to the weight of Julio Grondona within FIFA. Even Blatter, who initially said he was “a little surprised” by Messi’s choice, declared in October that it had been “incorrect”.
Messi’s emotional bond with his national team was then revealed as decisive for his life. Fabián Soldini, his first representative, said that “His love is the National Team. It’s neither Barça nor Newell’s… His love is the National Team. His great love is the National Team… He dies for the National Team; die, die”. For that reason, Argentina’s defeat against Germany produced a trauma in Messi that led him to suffer insomnia for more than a year.
On July 29, Sabella submitted his resignation. Under his direction, Messi, with 25 goals in 32 games, was the team’s top scorer, in addition to surpassing his goal averages with other coaches: 0.78 against 0.20 (Pékerman), 0.33 (Basile), 0.36 (Batista) and 0.18 (Maradona).
Martino Stage
On August 14, 2014, Gerardo Martino took over as the new coach. He coached his first match on 3 September, a friendly against Germany in Düsseldorf, in which Messi did not play due to injury. He did participate in the following two friendlies: the Superclásico of the Americas on October 11 at the National Stadium in Beijing, in which he missed a penalty and Argentina lost 2-0 and the 14 against Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Stadium where, in just half an hour of play, he gave an assist and scored two of the goals of 7-0.
In November, Argentina played its last two friendlies of the year in England. They beat Croatia 2-1 on the 12th at London’s Upton Park and, six days later, lost 1-0 to Portugal at Old Trafford. Messi scored a penalty in the first match, while in the second he played only the first half.
Copa America 2015
On June 13, 2015, against Paraguay, Messi scored in the first half and put a momentary 2-0 in favor of his team, which drew 2-2. Four days later, he played in the 1-0 draw against Uruguay. In both games, he was chosen MVP of the game, although he only accepted it on the second occasion. On June 20, in the 1-0 against Jamaica, he reached one hundred games with his national team. He thus became one of the youngest Argentine footballers to reach that mark, along with Javier Zanetti, Roberto Ayala, Javier Mascherano and Diego Simeone.
On June 27, in the quarterfinals against Pékerman’s Colombia, he made the first of the penalties with which Argentina won 5-4 after a 0-0 draw. On June 30, in the semifinals against Paraguay, he made three assists in a match that Argentina won 6-1. In the final against Chile on July 4, he played well in the first half, but did not influence the rest of the match. After a 0-0 draw in 120 minutes, Argentina lost 4-1 on penalties, where Messi was the only one who did not miss. Messi was voted Best Player of the Tournament, but refused to receive the award.
Copa America Centenario
On June 6, 2016, Messi did not play in the 2–1 draw against Chile in the Copa America Centenario, because he had been injured in a friendly with Honduras. The 10th, against Panama, came on in the second half and, in eighteen minutes, scored a hat-trick in a match that Argentina won 5-0. He also entered the second half on the 14th in the 3-0 against Bolivia, where he did not score.
On June 18, in the quarterfinals against Venezuela, he reached 54 goals and equaled Batistuta as the all-time top scorer of the Argentine national team, although he did so in more games (111 against 77). He surpassed that mark three days later, in the semifinal against the United States, where he provided an assist to Higuaín and scored a free-kick goal, in a match that Argentina won 4-0. He was again a candidate for the Puskás award for that goal, but lost to Mohd Faiz Subri.
On June 26, Argentina played the final against Chile at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. After a goalless draw in 120 minutes, the Chilean team won 4-2 on penalties. Despite his very good performance throughout the competition and having played a good game, Messi, who kicked first, sent the ball over the crossbar.
Resignation and return
Upon leaving the locker room, Messi announced his retirement from the Argentine national team, a decision that he had not even communicated to his teammates. He referenced the last three finals lost by Argentina, commenting: “It’s incredible, but it doesn’t happen. Today happened to us, again and again, the penalties. There are four finals that I have to lose, the ones we have to lose, three in a row… The truth is that it is a pity, but it has to be so. It doesn’t happen, we try, we look for it, but that’s it. The selection is over for me”.
However, on August 12 of the same year, he confirmed in a press release his return and that he would also participate in the qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup.
2018 World Cup Qualifiers
“He is a player who cannot be described, you just have to see him, marvel and admire him. Messi is a player with a level above all others”.
Óscar Washington Tabárez, coach of Uruguay, after the match against Argentina in the CONMEBOL Qualification for the 2018 World Cup.
Breaking with the tradition that had prevailed for years in the AFA, the defeat in the Copa América 2015 did not mean the departure of Martino despite what most fans and journalists announced, and continuity and his long-term project was maintained. In September, the Argentine team began a tour of the United States that would serve as preparation for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, which featured two friendlies against Bolivia and Mexico. On September 4, against Bolivia, Messi entered the second half and, in nine minutes, scored two goals: headed the partial 5-0 and then the second, for a final result 7-0.
It was the first time he converted to the Bolivian national team, and thanks to this double he became the first Argentine player to score against all the CONMEBOL teams, a mark that only three other South American players had (Zico, Arnoldo Iguarán and Agustín Delgado). On September 8 against Mexico, in the 90th minute, he converted the goal of the final tie, after Agüero, in the 85th, scored the first goal when Argentina was losing 0-2 Due to an injury suffered in a Barcelona-Las Palmas on 26, he could not play against Ecuador and Paraguay, in October, and Brazil and Colombia in November.
On 24 March 2016 against Chile, he provided an assist to Gabriel Mercado on the second goal, which allowed Argentina to win 2–1. On the 29th, from a penalty, he converted the second goal of the 2-0 against Bolivia, which was his 50th goal with the national team.
After Martino’s resignation on 5 July, Edgardo Bauza was appointed as the new coach on 5 August. In his first news conference, he said he would travel to Spain to speak with Messi, though with no intention of convincing him to return.
In his return to the national team, on September 1 against Uruguay, Messi guided the game and scored the only goal of the match, despite the fact that the opponent had put nine players in defense. On the 6th, due to pubalgia, he was not called up against Venezuela and, as at the end of that month he broke the adductor of his right thigh, he did not participate in the matches against Peru and Paraguay in October. On November 10, Argentina lost 3–0 away to Brazil. On November 15, Messi scored a goal and provided two assists in the 3–0 win over Colombia. His game, highlighted by media from several countries, was essential in the classification of Argentina, which had only added two points in the previous four games.
On March 23, 2017, Messi executed the penalty with which Argentina won 1-0 against Chile at the Monumental Stadium. Five days later, hours before the match against Bolivia in La Paz, FIFA, acting ex officio, decided to fine him with 10,000 Swiss francs and sanction him for four dates, for having insulted Emerson Augusto de Carvalho, assistant referee of the match with Chile, despite the fact that neither he nor the referee Sandro Ricci had informed him in minutes. Messi, consequently, could not play and watched the game on television in the dressing room of the Hernando Siles stadium. Argentina lost 2-0, dropped to fifth place and entered the playoff zone. On April 11, Bauza was fired as coach.
On May 5, FIFA lifted the ban in its entirety, so Messi could participate in the next three matches.
On June 1, Jorge Sampaoli was appointed the new coach of the Argentine national team. At the press conference, he said that Messi was “the best player in the world with many creative variants” and that he planned to combine him with “compatible players”. He began directing two friendlies that same month. On the 9th, Messi did not have a good game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against Brazil, which Argentina won 1–0, and was absent against Singapore on the 13th, when Argentina thrashed 6–0 at the National Stadium in Singapore.
In his official debut as coach, on August 31 away against Uruguay, Sampaoli proposed an offensive team, with four players up to make it easier for Messi. Despite being the best of his team, Messi failed to convert and the match ended 0-0. The next two matches were also draws: 1–1 against Venezuela (with a goal against Rolf Feltscher) on 5 September and, a month later, 0–0 against Peru. With these results, Argentina was in sixth place and had to win the last game against Ecuador to not be left out of the World Cup. On October 10, thanks to a hat-trick from Messi, he won 1-3 in Quito and qualified without needing to play the repechage. With 21 goals in South American qualifiers, Messi displaced Hernén Crespo (19) as Argentina’s top scorer in that competition and equaled Luis Suárez as Argentina’s all-time top scorer.
In his first thirteen games, Argentina got 15 points out of 18 possible (83%) in the six games where Messi played, but only 7 of 21 (33%) in the seven in which he did not participate.
2018 World Cup
On May 27, 2018, due to hamstring problems, Messi did not participate in the friendly against Spain that Argentina lost 6-1. In his absence, the AFA lost 350,000 euros. On May 29, in a friendly against Haiti at the Bombonera in Buenos Aires, he scored three of the goals with which Argentina won 4–0.
On June 16, in Argentina’s first World Cup match, he missed a penalty in a 1–1 draw against Iceland. After losing 0–3 to Croatia, he scored a goal in the last match against Nigeria that Argentina won 2–1 and in which he was voted Man of the Match. The team reached second place in the group standings and went to the second round, where it was eliminated by France, first of group C, on June 30. Despite his poor performance in the first two and last matches, Messi was nominated for the Puskás award for his goal against Nigeria, but lost to Mohamed Salah.
Scaloni stage
On July 14, the AFA announced on Twitter that Sampaoli had ceased to be the coach. Provisionally, and to direct six friendlies, Lionel Scaloni took the place, who in November was ratified until the next Copa America and, in July 2019, until the World Cup in Qatar.
Messi agreed not to play any of those matches in which, by Scaloni’s decision, no player wore the number 10 jersey. Without the lure of his presence on the roster, the AFA lost up to $900,000 per game. He returned on 22 March 2019, in another friendly against Venezuela at Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium, which Argentina lost 3–1. Both the team and the player received criticism from various media and former Argentine captain Daniel Passarella reproached him for not demonstrating with the selection the same “attitude” as with his club. Due to pubalgia, he did not participate in the friendly against Morocco on the 26th at the Ibn Battouta stadium in Tangier. His absence meant a loss of about 400,000 thousand dollars for the AFA, since the Royal Moroccan Football Federation had stipulated by contract a lower payment if Messi did not play.
In the last friendly before the Copa América, on June 7 against Nicaragua at the Bicentenario stadium, he scored his seventh double with Argentina, which he won 5-1.
Copa America 2019
After losing 2–0 to Colombia in the first group stage match of the Copa América on 15 June, on 19 Argentina, thanks to a penalty awarded by Messi early in the second half, drew 1–1 with Paraguay, forcing them to beat Qatar to advance to the quarterfinals. On June 23, although he did not perform very well, Messi contributed to the 2-0 win over Qatar, with goals from Lautaro Martínez and Agüero. After Argentina beat Venezuela 2-0 on the 28th, some media criticized the performance of Messi, who acknowledged that it had not been his best Copa América, while complaining about the quality of the pitches.
At that party, on the other hand, he sang the anthem for the first time, something for which he was repeatedly criticized in his country. After the 2-0 loss to Brazil in the semifinals on July 2, he questioned the refereeing and claimed that the competition was “ready” for the host country to win.
Argentina and Chile faced off for third place on July 6 at the Arena Corinthians in São Paulo. Messi executed, from midfield, the free kick that allowed Agüero to convert the first goal in the 2-1 victory but, after an altercation with Gary Medel, he was sent off in the 37th minute along with the Chilean captain. After the match, he did not stand on the podium (the award was collected by Di Maria) and hinted that he had been sent off for his complaints about refereeing in the semifinal.
On July 23, CONMEBOL fined him $1500 and sanctioned him for one match, which would prevent him from playing the first match of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, and on August 2, imposed a three-month ban and a fine of $50,000 for his comments on refereeing decisions. Due to this ban, Messi was unable to play Argentina’s friendly matches against Chile, Mexico and Germany in September and October.
Copa America 2021
On June 14, 2021, in Argentina’s first Copa America match in Brazil, Messi scored from a free kick in the 1–1 draw against Chile at Rio de Janeiro’s Nilton Santos Stadium. With this goal, the tenth in Copa America, he surpassed the 56 made of free kicks by Cristiano Ronaldo and became the active player with the most goals in that way (57). He also surpassed Batistuta’s record of 38 goals in official matches with Argentina. Against Uruguay on June 18, he assisted Guido Rodríguez on Argentina’s 1–0 header.
On June 21, Argentina won 1–0 against Paraguay. On the 28th, in the 4-1 against Bolivia, Messi gave an assist on Papu Gómez’s first goal and then scored two others, one penalty and one play, something he had not done since 2018. It was his 148th game for the national team, surpassing Mascherano’s record of 147. On July 3, he provided two assists and scored the last goal from a free kick in a 3–0 win over Ecuador in the quarterfinals. Against Colombia on 6 July, he assisted Lautaro Martínez on the opening goal and, following the 1–1 draw, scored in the penalty shootout for Argentina’s 3–2 win.
On July 10, in the final against Brazil at the Maracanã, Argentina won 1–0 with a goal from Di María. In his fifth international final, Messi won his first title, Argentina’s first since the 1993 Copa America and the fifteenth Copa America in its history. He had participated directly in nine of the twelve goals scored by Argentina, with four goals and five assists. He was named best player and top scorer of the tournament, an award he shared with Colombian Luis Díaz, and a member of the ideal XI. In addition, he equaled two other records: with thirty-four matches played, the 1953 of Chilean goalkeeper Sergio Livingstone as a player present in more matches in the history of the Copa América and, with six participations, he became the second Argentine to reach that number along with goalkeeper Américo Tesoriere, who had achieved it in 1925.
On August 5, the IFFHS included him in the ideal Argentine team of all time.
2022 World Cup qualifiers
On October 8, 2020, in the first match of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Messi scored a penalty kick in the 1-0 win against Ecuador. Away against Bolivia on the 13th, he played a very good second half, in which he partnered with Lautaro Martínez to enable Joaquín Correa’s goal with which Argentina won 2-1. On 13 November, in a 1–1 draw with Paraguay, a goal was disallowed after consultation with VAR. After the 2–0 draw against Peru on the 17th, where he performed well, but did not score, he became the player with the most matches won (85) in the history of his national team.
On June 3, 2021, against Chile, he scored the first goal of the match and executed two free kicks, but they were saved by Claudio Bravo and the match ended 1-1. On October 14, like his teammates, he had a regular performance in the 1-0 against Peru. He also failed to score goals on June 8 in the 2-2 win against Colombia, where David Ospina, who was the figure of the match, saved a free kick and a volley.
At the resumption of qualifying on 2 September, he did not convert in the 3–1 draw against Venezuela but, following the suspension of the match against Brazil on 6, on the 9th he scored a hat-trick in the 3–0 against Bolivia at the Monumental stadium, already in the presence of the public following the restrictions imposed by the COVID pandemic. In his 153rd match, he reached 79 goals (43 play, 22 penalties, 8 free kicks, 5 with the right foot and 2 head) with the absolute, so he surpassed Pelé as the top scorer of South American teams, and, with 26 goals, Luis Suárez as top scorer in CONMEBOL qualifiers. The breakdown of goals by competition is 6 in World Cups, 26 in qualifiers and 13 in Copa America, plus another 34 in friendlies.
After a goalless draw against Paraguay on 7 October, three days later Messi scored the first goal of 3–0 against Uruguay, but did not score in the 1–0 draw against Peru on the 14th or in the 1–0 win with Uruguay on 12 November, where he played only the last fifteen minutes. On November 16 at home against Brazil, with a 0-0 final and with four dates remaining, the Argentine team qualified mathematically for the World Cup in Qatar. She remained unbeaten in the qualifiers, having played twenty-seven matches between officials and friendlies.
Scaloni did not call him up for the games against Chile and Colombia in January and February, because he was still training differently at PSG due to problems in his left knee and hamstrings and having had COVID. On March 25, Messi scored a goal in a 3–0 win against Venezuela, a national team he hadn’t scored since 2016 and had never converted Wuilker Faríñez. By drawing 1-1 with Ecuador on the 29th, Argentina went 31 games unbeaten and equaled their 1993 record.
On September 27, in a friendly against Jamaica that Argentina won 3–0, Messi scored two goals. He reached 90 and ranked third on the list of all-time top scorers, behind Cristiano Ronaldo (117) and Ali Daei (109).
Finalissima 2022
On 1 June 2022, at the CONMEBOL-UEFA Champions Cup (nicknamed Finalissima), Argentina beat Italy 3–0 at Wembley Stadium. Messi, who played a very good game, assisted on the first and third goals, as well as shooting three times on goal. At the end of the match, he was named MVP.
In a friendly against Estonia on 5 June at El Sadar Stadium in Pamplona, he scored all five goals in Argentina’s 5–0 victory. With 86 goals in 163 games, he climbed to fourth place in the table of all-time top scorers, ahead of Puskás and behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Ali Daei and Mokhtar Dahari. In addition, he was the third player of his national team to convert five goals in a match, after Juan Andrés Marvezy and José Manuel Moreno, who had done so in 1941 and 1942. On 16 November, in another friendly with the United Arab Emirates, he scored a goal in another 5–0 Argentina goal. Argentina, meanwhile, reached 36 games without losing, which placed it in second place on the list of teams with the most consecutive unbeaten matches, behind Italy (37) and ahead of Brazil (35 in 1993-1996) and Spain (35 in 2007-2009).
World Cup 2022
On November 22, in the match against Saudi Arabia that Argentina lost 2-1, Messi converted a penalty ten minutes into the game and, at twenty-two, a goal that was annulled for being offside. In the second half against Mexico at the Lusail stadium on the 26th, he scored the first goal and gave the pass for Enzo Fernández in the 2-0 of Argentina. At 35 years and 155 days, he became the oldest player to score a goal and an assist in a World Cup. On the 30th, at stadium 974 against Poland, despite Wojciech Szczęsny saving a penalty and a shot, he was the center of the game for Argentina, which won 2-0. On the other hand, with twenty-two matches, he surpassed Maradona’s Argentine record (21) of presences in World Cups.
On 3 December, in the 2–1 round of 16 against Australia at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, he scored the first goal after an assist from Nicolás Otamendi. In his thousandth official match, he converted for the first time beyond the group stage. For former Argentine national team member Diego Latorre, it was his best game in all the World Cups.
On the 9th, in the quarterfinals against the Netherlands, he assisted Nahuel Molina in the first goal and scored a penalty. After a 2-2 draw even in extra time, he scored one of the penalties with which Argentina won 4-3. In that match, he surpassed Maradona as the Argentine who played the most times as captain. In the 3-0 semi-final win against Croatia on the 13th, he scored the first goal from a penalty and assisted on Julian Alvarez’s second. With his eleventh goal, he was first on the list of Argentine top scorers in World Cups, ahead of Batistuta (10), Guillermo Stábile (8) and Maradona (8).
On December 18, in the final against France at the Lusail stadium, he scored the first goal from a penalty and, in extra time, took advantage of the rebound of an attempt by Lautaro Martínez that Hugo Lloris had rejected to tie the 2-2. As Mbappé scored the third for his team, the match was defined by penalties, where Messi converted his for a 4-2 in favor of Argentina, who won the title after thirty-six years.
Against Mexico, Australia, Croatia and the Netherlands, Messi was chosen MVP and received the Golden Ball, so he became the first player recognized as MVP eleven times and twice as the best of the tournament. In addition, he was fourth in the list of top scorers in World Cups. He won the Silver Boot and broke two other World Cup records: Lothar Matthäus’ most caps (26) and Paolo Maldini’s most minutes played (2314 vs. 2217).
The player profile of Lionel Messi
Style of play
A prolific goalscorer, Messi is known for his shot, positioning, quick reactions and ability to make runs to beat opposing defensive lines. He can also function in an organizing role, due to his vision and range of passes. He is often called a “magician” for creating goal situations out of thin air.He is also an accurate free-kick shooter, who began to improve under Basile in national team training, and penalties, and one of the players with the most free-kick goals in history. He also usually scores goals by stinging the ball over the goalkeeper.
Due to his ability with the ball and short stature (1.69 m), he is very agile to quickly change direction and thus evade the sweeps of his rivals, which made the Spanish media begin to call him “The Atomic Flea”. Despite not being physically imposing, he has significant upper body strength, which, combined with his low center of gravity and balance, helps him withstand the physical challenges of opponents. Consequently, it is distinguished by simulating little in a sport in which many players do. His short but strong legs allow him to execute fast bursts of acceleration, while his fast feet allow him to keep the ball in check at high speed. Guardiola once said he was “the only player faster with a ball at his feet than without the ball”.
Messi is a predominantly left-handed player: with the outside of his left foot, he starts dribbling races, while with the inside he finishes the plays, either with a shot or with an assist or pass. However, he always scored with his right hand as well and, in 2012, he began to use his less-skilled leg more.
His pace and technical skill allow him to make long runs with the ball toward the goal, particularly during counterattacks, where he usually starts from the middle or right side of the field. Considered the best dribbler in the world, and one of the best in history, in 2009, while coaching him in the national team, Maradona said about him: “He has the ball stuck to his foot, it is part of his body. In other words, the foot and the ball come. I didn’t see that in any other and look I saw players, huh. I saw Van Basten, Careca, countless players, Houseman, for example. The Fool had her tied up. But none like Messi”. Beyond his individual qualities, he is also a well-rounded and hard-working team player, known for his creative combinations, particularly with former Barcelona midfielders Xavi and Iniesta.
Tactically, Messi plays a free offensive role. Being a versatile player, he can attack both in midfield and in the right sector. His favorite position during his childhood was as an organizer behind two strikers, known as hookers in Argentina, but he began his career at Barcelona playing as a classic winger on the left. From his debut in the first team, he was moved to the right wing by Frank Rijkaard. From this position, he could easily cut back into the center of the field and make shots with effect on goal with his left leg, instead of dedicating himself solely to throwing centers to his teammates.
In Barcelona, under the orders of Guardiola and the following coaches, he played often in the role of false nine, positioned as a center forward, but who could prowl the midfield, sometimes falling to midfield and bringing defenders next to him, to create and exploit the spaces they left with filtered passes, offensive runs of the other strikers, his own runs or to combine with Xavi and Iniesta.
In Luis Enrique’s 4-3-3 formation, he returned to his usual position as a right forward, which characterized him both in his career, while in recent seasons he developed a role as a free and deeper organizer on the field. With Ernesto Valverde, he played in a variety of positions. While he occasionally continued to play in a deeper role, in which he could run from the back into the box, or from the right wing or as a false nine, he was also used in a more central role, in 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 formations as a second striker, where he was given the freedom to fall deep. connect with midfielders, orchestrate attacks and create opportunities for their forward partner, Luis Suarez.
As the effectiveness of his dribble slowly declined with age, he began to dictate his play in deeper areas of the field and developed as one of the greatest passers and organizers of all time. His work without the ball and his defensive responsibilities also became less as his career progressed: by covering fewer areas on the field and conserving, instead, his energy to take advantage of more bursts of speed, he improved his effectiveness, movement and positional play, as well as avoiding muscle injuries, despite the large number of games he played per season.
With the Argentine national team, he was also in different positions on the attacking front: with different coaches, he has played on the right wing, as a false nine, an all-terrain striker, a second striker with another teammate or in a freer and more creative role as a hooker or midfielder behind the forwards.
You grow and learn things on the court. I used to grab the ball and make my play. Today I try to make the team play more and not be so defining, so selfish, in quotation marks. Near the area always look for a better option, throw myself a little further back and from there try to manage the game. I try to move the team more from another position, from another place. I think I keep running the same as I always did but in a different way.
Messi on the evolution of his game in an interview with Argentine journalist Luis Majul.
Many point out that Messi, in his last seasons with Barcelona, “did not run” at certain times of the game. However, different television analyses showed that this is a typical characteristic of his: he waits for the right moment and is in the exact position to take advantage of each play
Messi-Maradona
Messi established himself among the best players in the world before the age of twenty. In 2006, Maradona considered him, at only eighteen years old, the best player in the world next to Ronaldinho, while the Brazilian himself, shortly after winning the Golden Ball, commented: “I’m not even the best at Barça”, referring to his teammate. In 2007, players such as Francesco Totti or Franz Beckenbauer declared that they considered him one of the best in the world. After Messi won his first Golden Ball, public opinion about his qualities as a player referred not only to his status in contemporary football, but also to the possibility that he was the best in history.
The first proponent of that stance was Guardiola who, in August 2009, claimed that the Argentine was the best player he had ever seen. Gradually, this opinion was gaining greater acceptance among journalists, coaches, former players, players and football fans, who placed him even ahead of Maradona and Pelé. However, due to the fact that Messi had not won a World Cup, others were inclined to consider him the best player in history, but limited to the club field. Hernán Crespo, for example, told La Gazzetta Sportiva in 2018: “Messi is not Maradona, he alone does not win a World Cup (…) he is a phenomenon if he is put in the right conditions, as in Barcelona. (…) Messi, to be Messi, needs the team”.
Throughout his career, Messi has been compared to Maradona, due to his similar styles of play of small left-handed dribblers. Initially, he was simply one of several young Argentine players (among them, his childhood idol Pablo Aimar) who had been called the “New Maradona” but, as his career progressed, he proved his similarity beyond all others and established himself as the best Argentine player since Maradona. Jorge Valdano, who won the 1986 World Cup alongside Maradona, said in October 2013: “Messi is Maradona every day”.
César Menotti, Argentina’s coach at the 1978 World Cup, echoed when he said Messi played “at the level of the best Maradona”. Other notable Argentines in the sport, such as Osvaldo Ardiles or Diego Simeone, have expressed their belief that he surpassed Maradona as the greatest player in history.
In Argentine society, Messi is generally held in lower esteem than Maradona, a consequence of the difference in personalities or football and media background. Messi is reserved and simple, an uncomplicated man outside of football, quite the opposite of Maradona. In addition, Maradona was an idol of Boca Juniors, a club with a huge number of followers in Argentina, while Messi never played in the Argentine league, but was consecrated in Spain at a very young age. The first article about Messi in Argentine media was published only in August 2003 in the magazine El Gráfico, when the player was already recognized in Barcelona.
In his first stage with the national team, some sectors of the fans and the press of his country questioned his supposed “lack of passion for the shirt”. In addition to fostering the false perception that he felt more Catalan than Argentine. Repeated criticism was that he did not sing the national anthem, although in 2015 the player explained why. However, with the passage of time, his bond with the fans was strengthened and even more after having been champion of America in 2021.
Despite having lived in Spain since the age of thirteen, Messi told La Nacion in 2014: “I will always be where the national team needs me, wherever it is and for whatever competition. Beyond the bad moments, I am grateful for everything that the selection has allowed me to live. Now I feel recognized by the general public and I think they value the way I play. I try to keep growing and I dream of giving titles to the national team. What I want most is for Argentina to win”.
Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo
Many journalists and football fans consider that there is a latent rivalry between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, mainly because they are contemporaries and their similar records and sporting successes. Between them they have been proclaimed the best players in the world on more than twenty occasions, counting the Golden Ball, the FIFA awards, the World Soccer Award and the Globe Soccer Award, among others, in addition to being recognized as the best footballers of their generation. Some journalists prefer to analyze the style of play of each one, while others study aspects such as economic, advertising, personal and so on.
Their sporting competition was linked to that of their respective clubs between 2009 and 2018, since Ronaldo’s arrival at the Madrid club in mid-2009 and his departure from Juventus in 2018. At that time they faced each other at least twice each season in El Clasico, one of the strongest football rivalries, and the matches were among the most followed by millions of viewers around the world, not only for the importance of the match but also for the confrontation of its top stars.
Social impact
In 2007, Sports Illustrated magazine voted him the best athlete of the year.
In 2010 he was, according to France Football, the highest-paid footballer in the world. Thanks to his very good campaign with Barcelona and the proximity of the World Cup in South Africa, that year he won numerous advertising contracts, which took advantage of his image as a “common boy” to reach different socioeconomic and age sectors.
According to a 2011 study by the University of Navarra, Messi was one of those who aroused the most interest in the written press between the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011, in a proportion twenty times higher than the average of all the players who dispute the Champions League. In 2011, its media impact on the delivery of the Golden Ball was analyzed for the first time: the flow of information generated by the prize awarded to Messi was equivalent to that of the allocation of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo and double that of the media attention generated by the Nobel Prize in Medicine to Robert Edwards.
In 2011, Time magazine included him in its list of People of the Year for considering that he had “taken the world’s most popular sport to even greater heights in its commercial appeal and success, as evidenced by the growing number of American children wearing their Barça shirt in schools”.
In 2014, during the World Cup in Brazil, Messi premiered, a documentary directed by Álex de la Iglesia, with a script by Jorge Valdano. The mural of the Sistine Chapel of football, located in the Pereyra Sports Club in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Barracas, was also inaugurated. Inspired by Michelangelo’s frescoes in the vault of the Sistine Chapel, its author, Santiago Barbeito, depicted Messi as Adam, created by the “god” Maradona. There are other murals, statues and graffiti dedicated to him in different cities around the world. In addition, songs have been written for him.
On January 3, 2016, in a survey conducted by the AFA, six Argentine coaches included him in the all-time selection. In 2017, the British magazine FourFourTwo chose him the fifth most influential personality in football, behind Richard Scudamore, Gianni Infantino, Jorge Mendes and Aleksander Ceferin. According to an analysis carried out by the American consultancy Hill + Knowlton, Messi was, despite not being on Twitter, the Argentine with the greatest weight in social networks, thanks to his more than 87 million followers on Facebook and 58.7 million on Instagram, with which he doubled even Pope Francis.
The list was made from three basic variables: the number of followers, posts and interactions for each of them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The following year, he was the most high-profile soccer player in China, according to sports consultancy Mailman, prompting the Mengniu dairy company to appoint him an ambassador to settle in the European market.
In 2020, the consultants Nielsen and SportsPro pointed to Messi, with 167 million followers, as the most profitable athlete on Instagram, because 37% of his posts relate to brands that sponsor him. In 2022, his number of followers increased to 232 million.
His departure from Barcelona had enormous consequences for the club, which lost in value and trademark concept about 137 million euros, according to initial studies by the valuation consultancy Brand Finance. The financial blow went beyond the club and extended to all accounts and the financial balance of La Liga, since the main impact was felt in the negotiation of audiovisual rights in the following months. The marketing that was done generated millions of euros in profits, in addition to making it an attractive league for every footballer.
Revenues from box office, sales of T-shirts, sponsorships and, above all, television rights in Spain and abroad were seriously compromised. On the contrary, Messi’s arrival at PSG meant the development of the club’s image internationally. It has increased by more than 130% since the possibility that the player could sign for the Parisian team became known and also increased the followers on social networks, the sale of shirts and the economy of the club in general.
In May 2022, Messi agreed to be Saudi Arabia’s ambassador for tourism, despite having refused, the previous year, to participate in a campaign to promote tourism in that country. Due to the repeated violation of human rights in the kingdom, his decision was questioned by Amnesty International, former footballer José Luis Lanao and journalist John Carlin who, in an open letter in La Vanguardia, reproached him for having ignored the request of the NGO Grant Liberty, which supports the relatives of victims of the Saudi regime, And he called him a “mercenary”. Criticism focused on the fact that he had lent his image to enhance that country’s worldwide reputation.
On December 18, 2022, just after winning the World Cup in Qatar, Messi posted on Instagram a photo in which he is seen lifting the World Cup. Two days later, the post reached more than 58 million likes and thus surpassed the Instagram Egg, which had 56 million, in addition to being the one that generated the most comments (two million). Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, confirmed that it was the publication with the most likes in the history of that social network.
Statistics
Clubs
| Club | Season | Div. | League | Cups (1) | International (2) | Total (3) | Scoring average | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part. | Goals | Asist. | Part. | Goals | Asist. | Part. | Goals | Asist. | Part. | Goals | Asist. | ||||
|
F.C. Barcelona Spain |
2004-05 | 1st | 7 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0.11 |
| 2005-06 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | 6 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 8 | 3 | 0.32 | ||
| 2006-07 | 26 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | – | 36 | 17 | 3 | 0.47 | ||
| 2007-08 | 28 | 10 | 12 | 3 | – | – | 9 | 6 | 1 | 40 | 16 | 13 | 0.4 | ||
| 2008-09 | 31 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 51 | 38 | 17 | 0.75 | ||
| 2009-10 | 35 | 34 | 10 | 4 | 3 | – | 14 | 10 | 1 | 53 | 47 | 11 | 0.89 | ||
| 2010-11 | 33 | 31 | 18 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 3 | 55 | 53 | 23 | 0.96 | ||
| 2011-12 | 37 | 50 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 17 | 7 | 60 | 73 | 29 | 1.22 | ||
| 2012-13 | 32 | 46 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 50 | 60 | 15 | 1.2 | ||
| 2013-14 | 31 | 28 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 8 | – | 46 | 41 | 14 | 0.89 | ||
| 2014-15 | 38 | 43 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 57 | 58 | 27 | 1.02 | ||
| 2015-16 | 33 | 26 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 49 | 41 | 23 | 0.84 | ||
| 2016-17 | 34 | 37 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 52 | 54 | 16 | 1.04 | ||
| 2017-18 | 36 | 34 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 54 | 45 | 18 | 0.83 | ||
| 2018-19 | 34 | 36 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 50 | 51 | 19 | 1.02 | ||
| 2019-20 | 33 | 25 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 44 | 31 | 25 | 0.7 | ||
| 2020-21 | 35 | 30 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 47 | 38 | 12 | 0.81 | ||
| Total club | 520 | 474 | 192 | 100 | 70 | 38 | 158 | 128 | 38 | 778 | 672 | 268 | 0.86 | ||
| Paris Saint-Germain F. C. France | 2021-22 | 1st | 26 | 6 | 14 | 1 | – | – | 7 | 5 | – | 34 | 11 | 14 | 0.32 |
| 2022-23 | 32 | 16 | 16 | 2 | 1 | – | 7 | 4 | 4 | 41 | 21 | 20 | 0.51 | ||
| Total club | 58 | 22 | 30 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 75 | 32 | 34 | 0.43 | ||
| Total Career | 577 | 496 | 222 | 103 | 71 | 38 | 172 | 137 | 43 | 852 | 704 | 303 | 0.83 | ||
| (1) Includes data from the Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España, Copa de France and Supercopa de France. (2) Includes data from the Champions League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup. (3) Does not include goals in friendly matches. |
|||||||||||||||
| Data updated as of May 27, 2023. | |||||||||||||||
Argentina national team
| Tournament | Headquarters | Result | Parties | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 World Cup | Germany | Quarterfinals | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Copa America 2007 | Venezuela | Runner-up | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| 2010 World Cup | South Africa | Quarterfinals | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Copa America 2011 | Argentina | Quarterfinals | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 2014 World Cup | Brazil | Runner-up | 7 | 4 | 1 |
| Copa America 2015 | Chile | Runner-up | 6 | 1 | 3 |
| Copa America 2016 | United States | Runner-up | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| 2018 World Cup | Russia | Eighth-finals | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Copa America 2019 | Brazil | Third place | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Copa America 2021 | Champion | 7 | 4 | 5 | |
| 2022 CONMEBOL-UEFA Champions Cup | London | Champion | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2022 World Cup | Qatar | Champion | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| Total | 61 | 25 | 27 | ||
Statistical summary
Goals
| Division | Parties | Goals | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Division of Spain | 520 | 474 | 0.91 | |
| French First Division | 56 | 21 | 0.39 | |
| National cups | 103 | 71 | 0.69 | |
| International cups | 172 | 137 | 0.8 | |
| Argentina National Team | 174 | 102 | 0.59 | |
| Subtotal | 1025 | 805 | 0.79 | |
| Argentina U23 National Team | 5 | 2 | 0.4 | |
| Argentina U20 National Team | 18 | 14 | 0.78 | |
| Youth Categories | 283 | 339 | 1.2 | |
| Barcelona – friendlies | 58 | 37 | 0.64 | |
| PSG – friendlies | 4 | 3 | 0.75 | |
| Benefit friendlies | 13 | 23 | 1.77 | |
| Total | 1406 | 1223 | 0.87 | |
| Data updated as of May 27, 2023. | ||||
Assists
| Division | Parties | Assists | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Division of Spain | 520 | 192 | 0.37 | |
| French First Division | 56 | 30 | 0.53 | |
| National cups | 103 | 38 | 0.37 | |
| International cups | 172 | 43 | 0.25 | |
| Argentina National Team | 174 | 54 | 0.31 | |
| Official totals | 1025 | 357 | 0.35 | |
| Data updated as of May 27, 2023. | ||||
Goals and assists
| Division | Parties | Goals | Assists | Goals + Assist. | Half Goals + Assist. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Division of Spain | 520 | 474 | 192 | 666 | 1.28 |
| French First Division | 56 | 21 | 30 | 51 | 0.91 |
| National cups | 103 | 71 | 38 | 109 | 1.06 |
| International cups | 172 | 137 | 43 | 180 | 1.05 |
| Argentina National Team | 174 | 102 | 54 | 156 | 0.9 |
| Official totals | 1025 | 805 | 357 | 1162 | 1.13 |
| Data updated as of May 27, 2023. | |||||
The 1000 goals
On January 7, 2018, Messi joined the list of players in history with more than 1000 goals, in Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Levante. At Camp Nou, for the eighteenth round of La Liga, he scored his thousandth goal, the first of the game to goalkeeper Oier Olazábal in the 12th minute after a pass from Jordi Alba.
The detail are: 527 official goals and 34 in friendlies with Barcelona, 61 with the Argentine senior team, two with the U23 and 14 with the U20, plus 23 goals in charity and exhibition games, plus 339 in the lower divisions of Barcelona and Newell’s Old Boys. The statistic, even, could be higher due to goals that are not contemplated in the account: five goals with the Grandoli Standard-bearer, 18 goals in friendlies of inferior with Newell’s, 24 in preparatory matches with the Juveniles de Barcelona, a goal in Central Córdoba and 12 in his stage to test in River Plate would give a number of 60 more goals.
The 1100 goals
Messi scored his 1100th goal on December 7, 2019, in Barcelona’s 5-2 win at Camp Nou against Mallorca. In total they are: 617 official goals and 35 in friendlies with Barcelona, 70 with the Argentine senior team, two with the U23 and 14 with the U20, in addition to 23 goals in charity and exhibition games, plus 339 he did in tournaments he played in the lower divisions of Barcelona and Newell’s Old Boys.
Records
- South American top scorer in the history of football in official matches: 758 goals.
- Top scorer in the history of football in the same club: 672 goals with Barcelona.
- Most official goals in a calendar year (club and national team): in 2012, with 86 goals, he entered the Guinness World Records, but ended the year with 91.
- Most official goals in the same season (club and national team): 82 goals in 69 games in 2011-12.
- Most official goals in a calendar year (club): 84 (59 in La Liga, 13 in the Champions League, 5 in the Copa del Rey and 2 in the Super Cup) in 2012.
- Most official goals in the same season (club): 73 goals in 60 games in 2011-2012 (50 in the Spanish First Division, 14 in the UEFA Champions League, 3 in the Copa del Rey, 3 in the Spanish Super Cup, 1 in the European Super Cup and 2 in the FIFA Club World Cup).
- Only player in history to score 50 or more goals in nine different years: 60 (2010), 59 (2011), 91 (2012), 58 (2014), 52 (2015), 59 (2016), 50 (2017), 51 (2018), 50 (2019).
- Maximum winner of the award for the best player in the world by FIFA: 6 times (4 FIFA Golden Ball, 1 FIFA World Player and 1 The Best FIFA).
- Maximum winner of the Golden Ball: 7 times
- Top Golden Boot winner: 6 times
- Argentina’s top scorer in World Cups: 13 goals in 2022
- Player with most World Cup appearances: 26 in 2022
- Player with most minutes in World Cup: 2314 in 2022
- Only player to receive the Golden Ball twice at the World Cup: 2014 and 2022.
Honors and individual distinctions
National championships
| Title | Club | Year |
|---|---|---|
| League Championship | F.C. Barcelona | 2005 |
| Super cup | 2005 | |
| League Championship | 2006 | |
| Super cup | 2006 | |
| Cup | 2009 | |
| League Championship | 2009 | |
| Super cup | 2009 | |
| League Championship | 2010 | |
| Super cup | 2010 | |
| League Championship | 2011 | |
| Super cup | 2011 | |
| Cup | 2012 | |
| League Championship | 2013 | |
| Super cup | 2013 | |
| League Championship | 2015 | |
| Cup | 2015 | |
| League Championship | 2016 | |
| Cup | 2016 | |
| Super cup | 2016 | |
| Cup | 2017 | |
| League Championship | 2018 | |
| Cup | 2018 | |
| Super cup | 2018 | |
| League Championship | 2019 | |
| Cup | 2021 | |
| Ligue 1 | Paris Saint-Germain F. C. | 2022 |
| French Super Cup | 2022 |
International championships
| Title | Team | Year |
|---|---|---|
| World Cup (U-20) | Argentina U-20 | 2005 |
| 2008 Summer Olympics | Argentina U-23 | 2008 |
| America’s Cup | Argentina national team | 2021 |
| CONMEBOL-UEFA Champions Cup | 2022 | |
| FIFA World Cup | 2022 | |
| Champions League | F. C. Barcelona | 2006 |
| Champions League | 2009 | |
| European Super Cup | 2009 | |
| Club World Cup | 2009 | |
| Champions League | 2011 | |
| European Super Cup | 2011 | |
| Club World Cup | 2011 | |
| Champions League | 2015 | |
| European Super Cup | 2015 | |
| Club World Cup | 2015 |
Individual distinctions
| Distinction | Year |
|---|---|
| U-20 World Cup Golden Boot | 2005 |
| U-20 World Cup Golden Ball | 2005 |
| Best Young Player of the Copa America | 2007 |
| FIFA World Player of the Year | 2009 |
| Golden Ball | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 |
| Pichichi Trophy | 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 |
| Golden Boot | 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019 |
| UEFA Player of the Year | 2011, 2015 |
| Golden Ball of the World Cup | 2014, 2022 |
| Copa América Golden Ball | 2015, 2021 |
| The Best FIFA Award | 2019 |
| Laureus Award | 2020 |
| Golden Ball Dream Team | 2020 |
In 2011, he was elected second best player of the last twenty years of the Champions League, World Sports Heritage, and Outstanding Sports Personality by the Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires
Despite being nominated seven times for the Puskás Award, he never received it.
Lionel Messi’s private life
Since 2007, Messi has been in a relationship with Antonela Roccuzzo, whom he has known since childhood. She was introduced to Lucas Scaglia, her cousin who also played in the lower Newell’s. They maintained a relationship at a distance for three years until, after the World Cup in South Africa, she settled in Barcelona. The player made his courtship public in an interview on the Hat Trick Barça program in early 2009 and then some photographs of the couple were published at the Sitges carnival. They were married in a civil ceremony at Rosario’s City Center Hotel on June 30, 2017.
The couple has three sons: Thiago (November 2, 2012), Mateo (September 11, 2015) and Ciro (March 10, 2018), all born in Barcelona. To celebrate her partner’s first pregnancy, Messi placed the ball under her shirt after scoring in Argentina’s 4–0 win over Ecuador on 2 June 2012, before confirming the pregnancy in an interview two weeks later. Messi announced the arrival of his first child on his Facebook page, in which he wrote: “Today I am the happiest man in the world, my son was born and thank God for this gift!” He also tattooed the boy’s name and handprints on his left calf. All three were baptized in Rosario.
Since October 2021, the family lives in Neuilly-sur-Seine, on the outskirts of Paris.
In 2007, Messi created the Leo Messi Foundation, which aims to help children and adolescents at risk, especially in the areas of education and health. Through the foundation, playgrounds have been built, refurbished or rehabilitated, and sports centers, among other things. On the other hand, Messi usually participates in benefit events such as friendly matches or fundraising actions, awareness campaigns, donations, visits or solidarity meetings, both for his own foundation, and for the F Foundation. C. Barcelona and Unicef. With the F. C. Barcelona reached an alliance to work together.
He has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 11 March 2010 and, since 2018, a UNWTO Ambassador for Responsible Tourism.
His professional affairs are largely run as a family business: his father, Jorge, has been his agent since he was fourteen and his older brother, Rodrigo, handles his daily schedule and advertising. His mother and another brother, Matías, manage the Leo Messi Foundation and take care of personal and professional matters in Rosario.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization summoned him, along with other players, to participate in a COVID-19 awareness campaign.
In September, Forbes magazine included him in the list of athletes who earned more than 1 billion dollars (840 million euros) throughout their careers.
Tax evasion trial
In 2013, Messi was investigated for suspicions of tax evasion through companies in tax havens in Uruguay and Belize to evade, between 2007 and 2009, 4.1 million euros in income from image rights. Messi, who claimed to be unaware of the alleged system, voluntarily paid 5.1 million euros in August of that year. In May 2016, he was tried alongside his father on three counts of tax evasion.
On July 6, both were convicted of tax fraud and sentenced to twenty-one months in prison and sentenced to pay, respectively, 1.7 million euros and 1.4 million euros in fines. While the Public Prosecutor’s Office did not consider that there were grounds to accuse Messi, the Spanish State Attorney’s Office became the sole prosecution party, despite his statements that it had no knowledge of any of the transactions that had been made with his money. In front of the judge, he said, “I only play football”.
On May 24, 2017, the Spanish Supreme Court, having filed an appeal for the procedural representation of the player, ratified the sentence of the Provincial Court of Barcelona and considered him the author of three tax crimes for defrauding 4.1 million euros. On June 23, the Prosecutor’s Office presented a brief to the Audiencia de Barcelona, in which it did not oppose the replacement of “suspended” prison sentences by a financial sanction. Finally, on July 7, the Prosecutor’s Office accepted the alternative penalty established by the judge and established a fine of 252,000 euros for the player and another of 180,000 euros for his father.
References (sources)
|