History of lionel messi

"Messi" redirects here. For other uses, see Messi (disambiguation).

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Messi and the second or maternal family name is Cuccittini.

Lionel Messi

Messi with Argentina in November 2017
Personal information
Full name	Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini[1]
Date of birth	(1987-06-24) 24 June 1987 (age 30)
Place of birth	Rosario, Argentina
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current team	Barcelona
Number	10
Youth career
1994–2000	Newell's Old Boys
2001–2004	Barcelona
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2004	Barcelona C	10	(5)
2004–2005	Barcelona B	22	(6)
2004–	Barcelona	409	(373)
National team‡
2004–2005	Argentina U20	18	(14)
2008	Argentina U23	5	(2)
2005–	Argentina	123	(61)
Honours Representing  Argentina Olympic Games 2008 Beijing FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil Copa América 2007 Venezuela 2015 Chile 2016 United States South American U-20 Championship 2005 Colombia FIFA U-20 World Cup 2005 Netherlands
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 March 2018. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 November 2017

This article is part of a series about Lionel Messi
Argentine professional footballer International goals Career achievements Comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo Films Messi (2014) Messi (2017)
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Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini^{[note 1]} (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾez ˈmesi] ( listen);^[A] born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Often considered the best player in the world and regarded by many as the greatest of all time, Messi has a record-tying five Ballon d'Or awards,^{[note 2]} four of which he won consecutively, and a record-tying four European Golden Shoes.^{[note 3]} He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won 30 trophies, including eight La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles, and five Copas del Rey. Both a prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most official goals scored in La Liga (373), a La Liga season (50), a club football season in Europe (73), a calendar year (91), El Clásico (25), as well as those for most assists made in La Liga (149) and the Copa América (11). He has scored over 600 senior career goals for club and country.

Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a child. At age 13, he relocated to Spain to join Barcelona, who agreed to pay for his medical treatment. After a fast progression through Barcelona's youth academy, Messi made his competitive debut aged 17 in October 2004. Despite being injury-prone during his early career, he established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, finishing 2007 as a finalist for both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award, a feat he repeated the following year. His first uninterrupted campaign came in the 2008–09 season, during which he helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football. At 22 years old, Messi won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award by record voting margins.

Three successful seasons followed, with Messi winning three consecutive FIFA Ballon d'Ors, including an unprecedented fourth. His personal best campaign statistically to date was the 2011–12 season, in which he set the La Liga and European records for most goals scored in a single season, while establishing himself as Barcelona's all-time top scorer in official competitions in March 2012. The following two seasons, Messi finished twice second for the Ballon d'Or behind Cristiano Ronaldo, his perceived career rival. Messi regained his best form during the 2014–15 campaign, breaking the all-time goalscoring records in both La Liga and the Champions League in November 2014,^{[note 4]} and led Barcelona to a historic second treble.

An Argentine international, Messi is his country's all-time leading goalscorer. At youth level, he won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, finishing the tournament with both the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. His style of play as a diminutive, left-footed dribbler drew comparisons with compatriot Diego Maradona, who declared the teenager his successor. After making his senior debut in August 2005, Messi became the youngest Argentine to play and score in a FIFA World Cup during the 2006 edition, and reached the final of the 2007 Copa América, where he was named young player of the tournament. As the squad's captain from August 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals: the 2014 World Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball, and the 2015 and 2016 Copas América. After announcing his international retirement in 2016, he reversed his decision and led his country to qualification for the 2018 World Cup.