Lionel Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains the Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. His individual achievements include eight Ballon d'Or awards, the most for any footballer. With 47 team trophies, he is the most decorated player in the history of professional football.
Messi's club career began with Barcelona, where he rose through the youth ranks, making his first-team debut in 2004. During his tenure, Barcelona secured ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Reys, four UEFA Champions Leagues, seven Supercopa de Españas, three UEFA Super Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups, and Messi became the club's all-time top scorer. In 2021, due to club financial constraints and league regulations, Messi left Barcelona and signed with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Joining forces with fellow superstars Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, he won two Ligue 1 titles and one Trophée des Champions. In 2023, Messi joined Inter Miami and led them to their first-ever MLS Cup championship.
Messi made his debut with the Argentina national team in 2005, and represented the country in six FIFA World Cups and seven Copa Américas. Initially facing criticism for not winning major tournaments with the national team, Messi broke Argentina's 28-year international trophy drought by captaining the team to victory in the 2021 Copa América, the 2022 Finalissima, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and the 2024 Copa América. Messi retired from international football in October 2026.
Club career Barcelona 2004–2005: Rise to the first team
During the 2004–05 season, Lionel Messi was a guaranteed starter for the Barcelona B team, playing 17 games throughout the campaign and scoring six goals. Since his debut in the friendly against Porto the previous November, he had not been called up to the first team again, but in October 2004, the senior players asked manager Frank Rijkaard to promote him. Messi's usual position was left wing, but Ronaldinho already played this position. Rijkaard put Messi on the right flank, allowing him to cut into the centre of the pitch and shoot with his dominant left foot.
Messi made his La Liga debut with Barcelona's senior team during the next match on 16 October, against Espanyol at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Montjuïc. The 17-year-old Messi was at the time the youngest player to represent Barcelona in an official competition. As a substitute player, he played in nine matches for the first team that season, including his debut in the UEFA Champions League. He scored his first senior goal on 1 May 2005, becoming the youngest-ever scorer for the club at the time. Barcelona won the league for the first time in six years.
2005–2006: Becoming a starting eleven player
On 24 June 2005, his 18th birthday, Messi signed his first contract as a senior team player. It made him a Barcelona player until 2010, and contained a buyout clause of €150 million. Two months later, Messi made his first start for the club against Fabio Capello's Juventus in the Joan Gamper Trophy, Barcelona's pre-season competition. Capello sought to take Messi to Juventus on loan, but Inter Milan offered to pay his €150 million buyout clause and triple his salary. According to then-president Joan Laporta, it was the only time the club faced a real risk of losing Messi, but he ultimately decided to stay. On 16 September, his contract was updated for the second time in three months and extended to 2014.
Due to issues regarding his legal status in the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Messi missed the start of La Liga, but on 26 September he acquired Spanish citizenship and became eligible to play. Wearing the number 19, he gradually established himself as the first-choice right winger, forming an attacking trio with Ronaldinho and striker Samuel Eto'o. Barcelona began the 2005–06 season by winning the Supercopa de España against Real Betis without Messi, who was not selected to participate in the competition. He was in the starting line-up in major matches like his first Clásico against rivals Real Madrid, a 3–0 victory on 19 November, as well as Barcelona's 2–1 victory over Chelsea in the last-16 round of the Champions League.
After scoring 8 goals in 25 games, including his first in the Champions League, Messi's season ended prematurely on 7 March 2006, when he suffered a torn hamstring. Messi worked to regain fitness in time for the 2006 Champions League final, but he was eventually ruled out. He was so disappointed that he did not celebrate his team's 2–1 victory over Arsenal in Paris, which he later came to regret.
2006–2008: Improving form amid club decline
While Barcelona began a gradual decline, the 19-year-old Messi established himself as one of the best players in the world during the 2006–07 season. Already an idol to the club's supporters, he scored 17 goals in 36 games across all competitions. In the league, his goal contribution increased towards the end of the season; 11 of his 14 goals came from the last 13 games. On 10 March 2007, he scored his first hat-trick in a Clásico, the first player to do so in 12 years. His growing importance to the club was reflected in a new contract, signed that month, which greatly increased his salary.
Messi, who was already frequently compared to his compatriot Diego Maradona, nearly replicated Maradona's two most famous goals in the span of seven weeks. On 18 April, in a Copa del Rey match against Getafe, he ran with the ball, beating five defenders before scoring in a similar fashion to Maradona in his Goal of the Century. A league match against Espanyol on 9 June saw Messi strike the ball with his hand in a fashion comparable to Maradona in his Hand of God goal. In 2019, Messi's goal against Getafe was voted Barcelona's best goal ever in a poll of the club's fans. As Messi continued his individual rise, Barcelona faltered; the team failed to reach the Copa del Rey final and was eliminated from La Liga competition by Real Madrid.
After Ronaldinho lost form, Messi became Barcelona's new star player at 20 years old, receiving the nickname "Messiah" from the Spanish media. Sports journalists voted him the third-best player of the year for the 2007 Ballon d'Or, while international managers and national team captains voted him second for the FIFA World Player of the Year award. After suffering a torn hamstring on 15 December, Messi returned to score twice in a 3–2 victory against Celtic in the last-16 round of the Champions League, becoming the competition's top scorer at that point with six goals. Rijkaard had fielded him despite warnings from the medical staff, and on 4 March 2008 Messi was reinjured, leading captain Carles Puyol to criticise the Spanish media for pressuring Messi to play every match. Barcelona was eliminated from the Champions League semi-finals by Manchester United and finished third in the league.
2008–2009: First treble
After two unsuccessful seasons, Barcelona were in need of an overhaul, leading to the departure of Rijkaard and Ronaldinho. Upon Ronaldinho's departure, Messi was given the number 10 shirt. He signed a new contract in July with an annual salary of €7.8 million, becoming the club's highest-paid player. Ahead of the new season, a major concern remained his frequent muscular injuries, which had left him sidelined for a total of eight months between 2006 and 2008. To combat the problem, the club implemented new training, nutrition, and lifestyle regimens, and assigned him a personal physiotherapist. As a result, Messi remained virtually injury-free during the next four years. His performances in 2008 saw him again voted runner-up for the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award, both times behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
During the 2008–09 season, he scored 38 goals in 51 games, contributing alongside Eto'o and Thierry Henry to a total of 100 goals in all competitions, a record at the time for the club. During his first season under Barcelona's new manager Pep Guardiola, Messi played mainly as a false winger. On 2 May 2009, however, he played for the first time as a false nine, scoring twice in a 6–2 victory over Real Madrid. Returning to the wing, he scored once and assisted a second goal as Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 4–1 in the 2009 Copa del Rey final. With 23 league goals from Messi that season, Barcelona became La Liga champions three days later and achieved its fifth double.
Messi became the season's Champions League top scorer with nine goals, the youngest in the tournament's history. He returned as a false nine during the 2009 Champions League final on 27 May in Rome against defending champions Manchester United, scoring the second goal in a 2–0 victory. Barcelona achieved the first treble in the history of Spanish football, an accomplishment that was reflected in a new contract which committed Messi to the club through 2016. The contract had a buyout clause of €250 million, and increased his salary to €12 million.
2009–2010: First Ballon d'Or
The team's prosperity continued into the second half of 2009, as Barcelona became the first club in history to achieve the sextuple, winning six top-tier trophies in a single year. After victories in the Supercopa de España and UEFA Super Cup in August, Barcelona won their first ever FIFA Club World Cup against Estudiantes de La Plata on 19 December, with Messi scoring the winning 2–1 goal in the final in extra time. At 22 years old, Messi won the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award, each by the largest voting margin in history.
The new year started on a less positive note for Barcelona, as they were knocked out of the Copa del Rey in the round of 16. Unsatisfied with his position on the right wing, Messi resumed playing as a false nine in early 2010. At that point, he effectively became the tactical focal point of Guardiola's team, and his goalscoring rate increased. Messi finished the season as the top scorer in the Champions League for the second consecutive year. He scored a total of 47 goals in all competitions that season, equalling Ronaldo's club record from the 1996–97 campaign. As La Liga's top scorer with 34 goals (again tying Ronaldo's record), he helped Barcelona win a second consecutive La Liga trophy and earned his first European Golden Shoe.
2010–2011: Fifth La Liga title, third Champions League, and second Ballon d'Or Messi secured Barcelona's first trophy of the 2010–11 season, the Supercopa de España, by scoring a hat-trick in a 4–0 victory over Sevilla. Assuming a playmaking role, he was instrumental in a 5–0 victory against Real Madrid on 29 November 2010. He helped his team achieve 16 consecutive league victories, a record in Spanish football, concluding with another hat-trick against Atlético Madrid in a 3–0 win on 5 February 2011. Messi's club performances in 2010 earned him the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or, an amalgamation of the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award, though his win was met with some criticism due to his lack of success with Argentina at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
During a semi-finals match of the Champions League, one of Messi's goals was described as one of the best ever in the competition. In the Champions League final on 28 May, he gave a man-of-the-match performance by scoring the winning goal in Barcelona's 3–1 victory. He was the competition's top scorer for the third consecutive year, with 12 goals. During the La Liga season, Messi had 31 goals and 18 assists as Barcelona won a third consecutive La Liga title. He finished the overall season with 53 goals in all competitions, becoming Barcelona's all-time single-season top scorer and the first player in Spanish football history to reach 50 goals in a season.
2011–2012: Record-breaking season, third Ballon d'Or, and Barcelona's all-time goalscorer