The Lionel Messi Biography is one of the most searched on the internet and in this article you will find all you need to know about Messi.
Lionel Messi Biography and Career achievements
Lionel Andrés Messi born 24 June 1987, also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record seven Ballon d’Or awards and a record six European Golden Shoes, and in 2020 he was named to the Ballon d’Or Dream Team.
Until leaving the club in 2021, he had spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles and the UEFA Champions League four times.
With his country, he won the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (474), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (eight), and most assists in La Liga (192) and the Copa América (17). He also has the most international goals by a South American male (104). Messi has scored over 800 senior career goals for club and country, and has the most goals by a player for a single club (672).
Messi relocated to Spain from Argentina aged 13 to join Barcelona, for whom he made his competitive debut aged 17 in October 2004. He established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, and in his first uninterrupted season in 2008–09 he helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football; that year, aged 22, Messi won his first Ballon d’Or.
Three successful seasons followed, with Messi winning four consecutive Ballons d’Or, making him the first player to win the award four times. During the 2011–12 season, 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. The following two seasons, Messi finished second for the Ballon d’Or behind Cristiano Ronaldo (his perceived career rival), before regaining his best form during the 2014–15 campaign, becoming the all-time top scorer in La Liga and leading Barcelona to a historic second treble, after which he was awarded a fifth Ballon d’Or in 2015.
Messi assumed captaincy of Barcelona in 2018, and won a record sixth Ballon d’Or in 2019. Out of contract, he signed for French club Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021, spending two seasons at the club and winning Ligue 1 twice. Messi joined American club Inter Miami in July 2023, winning the Leagues Cup in August of that year.
An Argentine international, Messi is the country’s all-time leading goalscorer and also holds the national record for appearances. 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 his compatriot Diego Maradona, who described Messi as his successor. After his senior debut in August 2005, Messi became the youngest Argentine to play and score in a FIFA World Cup (2006), and reached the final of the 2007 Copa América, where he was named young player of the tournament.
As the squad’s captain from August 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals: the 2014 FIFA World Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball, the 2015 Copa América, winning the Golden Ball, and the 2016 Copa América. After announcing his international retirement in 2016, he reversed his decision and led his country to qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, a third-place finish at the 2019 Copa América, and victory in the 2021 Copa América, while winning the Golden Ball and Golden Boot for the latter.
For this achievement, Messi received a record-extending seventh Ballon d’Or in 2021. In 2022, he led Argentina to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where he won a record second Golden Ball, scored seven goals including two in the final, and broke the record for most games played at the World Cup (26).
Messi has endorsed sportswear company Adidas since 2006. According to France Football, he was the world’s highest-paid footballer for five years out of six between 2009 and 2014, and was ranked the world’s highest-paid athlete by Forbes in 2019 and 2022. Messi was among Time’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2011, 2012 and 2023.
In 2020 and 2023, he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, with Messi being the first team-sport athlete to win the award. In 2020, Messi became the second footballer and second team-sport athlete to surpass $1 billion in career earnings.
Lionel Messi Argentina career?
Messi made his international debut in 2005 after winning the FIFA World Youth Championship that year. At the 2006 World Cup, he became the youngest Argentinian player to play and score.
Since then, he has joined his compatriot Diego Maradona as a footballing icon both at home and abroad.
- International caps: 172
- International goals: 98
- World Cup appearances: 5
- World Cup matches played: 26 (He is now the player with the most World Cup appearances)
- World Cup goals: 13 (a record for Argentina)
- World Cup finals: 2 (2014, 2022)
- World Cup 2022 goals: 7
- World Cup 2022 assists: 3 (Messi is the only player to register an assist in five World Cups)
- World Cup 2022 Man of the Match awards: 5 (11 overall in World Cups, more than any other player)
- Other International honours: Copa America (2021), CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions (2022), Summer Olympics (2008), FIFA World Youth Championship (2005)
Lionel Messi Career Individual Awards
- Ballon d’Or: 7
- World Cup Golden Ball award: 2
- FIFA World Player of the Year: 1
- The Best FIFA Men’s Player: 1
- European Golden Shoe: 6
- FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2
- Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: 1
- Argentina’s Footballer of the Year: 14
What has Messi achieved at club level?
Messi joined Barcelona’s youth academy when he was 13 and spent much of his professional career at the Catalan club.
He is Barcelona’s top scorer and has made the most appearances for the club, with 672 goals in 778 games in all competitions.
Messi won 35 trophies at Barcelona, including 10 La Liga titles, four Champions League trophies, three UEFA Super Cups, seven Copa del Rey crowns, and three FIFA Club World Cups.
In 2021, Messi moved to the French club PSG, where he scored 23 goals and recorded 29 assists in 53 appearances. He won the Ligue 1 title with the club in the 2021-22 season and the French Super Cup in July 2022.
Lionel Messi Net Worth Salary
Lionel Messi is an Argentinian-born professional athlete who has a net worth of $600 million. Lionel Messi is often regarded as the best soccer player in the world, and one of the best in history. He is certainly one of, if not THE, highest-paid player in history.
Lionel Messi earned the majority of his early net worth as a striker and winger for FC Barcelona. He played for Barcelona from his teenage years through 2021. During his time with Barcelona, Lionel scored 672 goals in 778 games. On August 10, 2021 it was announced that Lionel would move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain. He also plays for the Argentina National Team. On December 18, 2022 Lionel and the Argentina National team won the World Cup.
Lionel Messi is likely the highest-paid soccer player in the world and definitely one of the highest paid athletes in the world overall. His earth-shattering 2017 contract with Barcelona gave Messi an average base annual salary of $168 million.
He also earns roughly $40 million per year from endorsements, which meant under that contract he was making around $200 million per year.
Despite what you might have read in some lower quality sources, Lionel Messi is NOT A BILLIONAIRE. By the time his contract Barcelona was over, with endorsements Lionel had earned north of $1.3 billion. By our count he has earned around $900 million in salary to date and $400 million from endorsements. Some outlets misread that stat and declared him a “billionaire”.
On August 5, 2020, Barcelona announced it could not afford to re-sign Messi and he would therefore be seeking contracts from other teams. Five days later Lionel announced he had signed with Paris Saint-Germain. Lionel’s contract with Paris Saint-Germain paid a salary of $75 million per year. The contract has an option for a third year.
He was reportedly willing to accept a 50% pay cut to stay with Barcelona, but league rules forbade this from happening. Even at a 50% pay cut, Barcelona’s salaries would have equated to 110% of club revenue, when league rules require that number to be 70%.
On June 7, 2023 Lionel announced that he was joining David Beckham’s MLS team, Inter Miami, under a very unique deal that includes a revenue share of subscriptions sold by Apple’s coverage of the MLS season. More details on this contract in a moment…
