49 Fun Facts About Lionel Messi

In which Argentine city was Lionel Messi born in June 1987?

Rosario, on the Paraná River in Santa Fe province, is Messi's birthplace; the city also produced Che Guevara and Ángel Di María.

At age ten Messi was diagnosed with what condition, which threatened his future in football?

A growth hormone deficiency: the nightly injections cost about $1,000 a month, more than his family or Argentine clubs would cover, so Barcelona's offer to pay for the treatment sealed his move.

Barcelona's first commitment to sign the 13-year-old Messi was famously written on what?

Sporting director Carles Rexach had nothing else to hand at a tennis club. The napkin was later sold at auction for close to £800,000.

Which club in his home city did Messi play for before moving to Barcelona?

Newell's Old Boys: Messi scored hundreds of goals for the Rosario club's youth side, 'The Machine of '87', before leaving for Barcelona in 2000; Rosario Central are Newell's city rivals.

Which Barcelona star nicknamed the teenage Messi 'little brother' and eased his way into the first team?

Ronaldinho took the teenage Messi under his wing, calling him 'little brother', and the Brazilian set up Messi's first senior goal, a chip against Albacete on 1 May 2005.

What club record did Messi's first senior Barcelona goal, against Albacete in May 2005, set?

Youngest-ever scorer for the club at the time: Messi was 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old when he chipped in against Albacete; Bojan Krkić took the record in 2007.

Messi's first senior hat-trick, in March 2007, came against which opponent?

Real Madrid: Messi's hat-trick in the 3-3 Clásico at the Camp Nou on 10 March 2007, aged 19, made him the first player to score three in the fixture since Iván Zamorano in 1995.

Messi's 2007 goals against Getafe and Espanyol were compared to whose two most famous goals?

Diego Maradona: Messi's slalom through Getafe's defence in April 2007 mirrored Maradona's 'Goal of the Century', and his handball finish against Espanyol that June echoed the 'Hand of God', both from the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against England.

Messi was handed Barcelona's number 10 shirt at the start of which season?

2008-09: with Ronaldinho sold to AC Milan that summer, Messi inherited Barcelona's number 10 shirt for the 2008-09 season, having previously worn 19.

In 2009 Barcelona became the first club to achieve what?

The sextuple: in 2009 Barcelona won La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Champions League, the Spanish Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup, six trophies in one calendar year.

How many goals did Messi score in all competitions for club and country during the calendar year 2012?

91 goals: Messi's 79 for Barcelona and 12 for Argentina in 2012 broke Gerd Müller's 40-year-old record of 85 goals in a calendar year, set in 1972.

How many Ballon d'Or awards had Messi won by the end of 2023?

Eight: Messi won the Ballon d'Or in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023, the last after Argentina's 2022 World Cup win; he also won six European Golden Shoes.

How many UEFA Champions League titles did Messi win with Barcelona?

Four: Messi won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015, starting the last three finals and missing the 2006 final through injury, within a club-record 35 trophies.

How many goals did Messi score for Barcelona in all competitions, the record for a single club?

672: Messi scored 672 goals in 778 games for Barcelona between 2004 and 2021, overtaking Pelé's 643 for Santos as the most goals for a single club.

Barcelona's 2009 Champions League win over Manchester United completed which landmark?

The first treble in Spanish football history: the 2-0 win over Manchester United in Rome on 27 May 2009 added the Champions League to that season's La Liga and Copa del Rey; Barcelona repeated the treble in 2015.

At the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, Messi finished with six goals and which award?

He also took the Golden Shoe as top scorer as Argentina won the tournament in the Netherlands, beating Nigeria in the final.

Whom did Argentina beat in the 2008 Olympic final to win Messi his gold medal?

Nigeria: Argentina's under-23s, with Messi, beat Nigeria 1-0 in the Beijing final on 23 August 2008 through an Ángel Di María goal, after Barcelona had tried to block his release.

Messi's dual citizenship made him eligible for which national team besides Argentina?

Spain approached him about switching allegiance; Argentina hurried to cap him at youth level in 2004 to close the door.

At the 2014 World Cup, Argentina lost the final to Germany, but Messi still received which award?

He looked miserable collecting it. Eight years later he became the first player ever to win it twice.

After captaining Argentina to three straight lost finals (2014–16), what did Messi announce in 2016?

His retirement from international football: after missing a penalty in the Copa América Centenario shootout against Chile in June 2016, Messi said the national team was over for him, then reversed the decision within weeks.

Besides being jointly named Best Player, what award did Messi win at the 2021 Copa América?

The Golden Boot: Messi finished as the 2021 Copa América's top scorer with four goals, plus five assists, as Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 at the Maracanã to end a 28-year wait for a major title.

Why did Barcelona say in August 2021 that they could not re-sign Messi?

Financial constraints and La Liga's spending rules: Barcelona's wage bill breached the league's salary limit, so his new deal could not be registered; Messi wept through his farewell press conference on 8 August 2021 and joined PSG two days later.

What squad number did Messi choose when he joined Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021?

30: Messi took the number 30, the shirt he wore when he broke into Barcelona's first team as a teenager, since Neymar kept PSG's number 10; his contract ran two years with an option for a third.

The 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France was played at which venue?

Lusail Stadium, an 88,000-seat ground built for the tournament north of Doha, hosted the 18 December 2022 final and, earlier, Argentina's shock 2-1 opening defeat by Saudi Arabia.

Which France player scored a hat-trick in the 2022 World Cup final and still finished on the losing side?

Kylian Mbappé scored three in the 2022 final, including two goals 97 seconds apart, becoming only the second man after Geoff Hurst in 1966 to score a World Cup final hat-trick, and the first to lose one.

What did Messi become the first player ever to do at the 2022 World Cup?

Win a second Golden Ball: Messi, best player of the 2014 tournament, was named the 2022 World Cup's best player too, the first man to win the award twice; he scored twice in the final.

How did Argentina win the 2022 World Cup final after a 3-3 draw?

4-2 on penalties: Emiliano Martínez saved Kingsley Coman's kick and Aurélien Tchouaméni shot wide, while Argentina scored all four of theirs, Gonzalo Montiel converting the winner.

Which MLS club signed Messi in July 2023?

Inter Miami: Messi signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Inter Miami CF in July 2023, and his number 10 shirt immediately became the best-selling jersey in MLS.

Whom did Inter Miami beat in the 2023 Leagues Cup final, Messi's first US trophy?

Nashville SC: Inter Miami won the 2023 Leagues Cup final 10-9 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Nashville, Messi scoring the opening goal and converting in the shootout, the club's first trophy.

With how many points did Messi's Inter Miami set the MLS regular-season record in 2024?

74: Inter Miami won the 2024 Supporters' Shield with 74 points from 34 games, beating the 73 set by New England Revolution in 2021; Messi was the league's MVP that season.

Who scored Argentina's winner over Colombia in the 2024 Copa América final after Messi went off hurt?

Lautaro Martínez scored the winner in the 112th minute at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, finishing as the tournament's top scorer, to give Argentina a record 16th Copa América and a third straight major title.

Which magazine named Messi its Athlete of the Year for 2023?

Time: the magazine named Messi its 2023 Athlete of the Year after his World Cup win and move to Inter Miami; Sports Illustrated chose Deion Sanders as its Sportsperson that year.

Which sportswear company has sponsored Messi since 2006?

Nike had him as a youngster but let the deal lapse. Adidas has since given him his own signature boot line.

Against which team did Messi score his first goal for Argentina, in March 2006?

Croatia: Messi's first Argentina goal came in a 3-2 friendly defeat by Croatia in Basel on 1 March 2006, three months before his first World Cup goal against Serbia and Montenegro.

What is the record number of assists Messi holds in La Liga history?

192: Messi set up 192 La Liga goals between 2004 and 2021, the most in the competition's history, with the 2019-20 season alone bringing a record 21 assists.

How many goals did Messi score in La Liga, the competition's all-time record?

474: Messi scored 474 La Liga goals in 520 appearances between 2004 and 2021, far ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo's 311, and won the Pichichi as top scorer a record eight times.

Which manager, taking over Barcelona in 2008, made Messi the tactical focal point and gave him the number 10?

Pep Guardiola, appointed in 2008, moved Messi into a 'false nine' role from the 6-2 Clásico win of May 2009, and his goalscoring exploded: 38 goals in 2008-09 rose to 73 in 2011-12.

How tall is Lionel Messi?

1.70 m, about 5 feet 7 inches: the growth hormone treatment Messi began at ten, later paid for by Barcelona, is credited with getting him to that height.

In 2025 Messi became the first player in MLS history to do what?

Win the MVP award in back-to-back years: Messi took the Landon Donovan MVP award in 2024 and again in 2025, the first consecutive winner in league history, and that year led Inter Miami to their first MLS Cup.

Messi's habit of pointing to the sky after scoring is a tribute to whom?

His maternal grandmother: Celia, his mother's mother, walked him to training from the age of four and died shortly before his eleventh birthday; Messi dedicates each goal to her by pointing skyward.

Which striker did the young Messi idolise, calling him 'the best forward I've ever seen'?

Ronaldo: the Brazilian striker, at his peak in the late 1990s, was the boy Messi's idol, and Messi later called him 'the best forward I've ever seen'.

At the 2022 Finalissima, Messi's Argentina beat which European champion 3-0?

Italy: the Finalissima at Wembley on 1 June 2022 pitted Copa América winners Argentina against Euro 2020 champions Italy; Messi made two assists in the 3-0 win and was named player of the match.

Which English club made an offer for the 15-year-old Messi in 2003, which he turned down?

Arsenal: in 2003, at the end of a season of 36 goals in 30 games for Barcelona's Cadetes A alongside Cesc Fàbregas and Gerard Piqué, Messi turned down an Arsenal offer to stay in Barcelona.

In 2014 Messi passed whose 59-year-old La Liga record of 251 goals?

Telmo Zarra: the Athletic Bilbao striker's 251 La Liga goals had stood as the record since 1955 until Messi's hat-trick against Sevilla on 22 November 2014 took him past it.

Messi's first-team debut, aged 16, came in a November 2003 friendly against which club?

FC Porto: Messi, 16, came on in the 75th minute of a friendly on 16 November 2003 that inaugurated Porto's Estádio do Dragão; winger Ludovic Giuly later recalled the teenager dribbling past four players at a time in training.

Against which club did Messi play his final match for Barcelona, in May 2021?

Celta Vigo: Messi's last game for Barcelona was a 2-1 home defeat by Celta Vigo on 16 May 2021, in which he scored the opener; he sat out the season's final match against Eibar.

In a 2003 youth cup final against Espanyol, what did Messi take off before scoring twice?

A protective mask: he had broken a cheekbone a week earlier and was cleared to play only in a mask; he took it off early, scored twice, and the 4-1 win became known as the 'final of the mask'.

Messi's first professional contract, signed in February 2004, carried what initial buyout clause?

€30 million: the contract Messi signed on 4 February 2004 carried a €30 million buyout clause, which rose automatically to €80 million when he debuted for Barcelona B a month later.

At age four Messi joined which local club, where his father was his coach?

Abanderado Grandoli: Messi joined the small Rosario club Grandoli at four and was coached there by his father Jorge, a manager at the Acindar steel plant; two cousins, the Biancucchi brothers, also turned professional.