Lionel Andrés "
Leo"
Messi (
Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi] (
listen); 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 rated by many in the
sport as the greatest of all time, Messi is the only football player in
history to win the
FIFA Ballon d'Or four times, all of which he won consecutively, and the first player to win three
European Golden Shoes. With Barcelona he has won seven
La Liga titles and four
UEFA Champions League titles, as well as three
Copa del Rey titles. A prolific goalscorer, Messi holds the
Guinness World Records titles for most goals scored in
La Liga (289),
a La Liga season (50), a calendar year (91), a Champions League match (five), and
most Champions League seasons (five).
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
personal best campaign 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. He again struggled with injury
during the following two seasons, twice finishing 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, and led Barcelona to a historic second treble.
As an Argentine international, Messi has represented his country in six major tournaments. At youth level, he won the
2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, finishing the tournament as its best player and top scorer, 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 since August 2011, he led Argentina to the finals of the
2014 World Cup and the
2015 Copa América, and both times was selected as player of the tournament.
