lionel messi

Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi 16 June 2018.jpg
Messi with Argentina at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini[1]
Date of birth 24 June 1987 (age 31)[2]
Place of birth Rosario, Argentina
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[3]
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 420 (385)
National team‡
2004–2005 Argentina U20 18 (14)
2008 Argentina U23 5 (2)
2005– Argentina 128 (65)
Honours[show]
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 August 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 June 2018
Lionel Messi 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 (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾez ˈmesi] (About this sound listen);[A] born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward and captain for Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentine national team. Often considered the best player in the world and regarded by many as one of the greatest players of all time,[6][7][8] Messi has won a record-tying five Ballon d'Or awards,[note 2] four of which he won consecutively, and a record five European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won 33 trophies, including nine La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles, and six Copas del Rey. Both a prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most official goals scored in La Liga (385), a La Liga season (50), a club football season in Europe (73), a calendar year (91), El Clásico (26), as well as those for most assists 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 Ballons d'Or, including an unprecedented fourth. His 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 3] 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.