Messi, Lionel (1987-…), is an outstanding Argentine soccer player. Soccer is called football in many parts of the world. Messi is a striker, a mainly offensive position. From 2004 to 2021, he starred for FC Barcelona in La Liga, Spain’s highest league. FC stands for football club. Messi helped lead FC Barcelona to several national and international championships. He also played on the Argentine national teams that won the gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and the 2022 World Cup.
Messi became the first player to win the Ballon d’Or award four years in a row. The Ballon d’Or is the most prestigious award given to an individual soccer player. Messi has received the award a record eight times, for the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2023 seasons. In 2012, Messi scored 91 goals, the most goals scored by a player during one calendar year in professional soccer history. He also holds the record for most career goals in La Liga competition—474.
From 2021 to 2023, Messi played for France’s Paris Saint-Germain FC. In 2023, he signed with Inter Miami CF of Major League Soccer in the United States. CF stands for Club de Fútbol.
Lionel Andrés Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. He began playing soccer as a child on local teams. From the age of 11, Messi was diagnosed with a deficiency of human growth hormone—that is, the main hormone that regulates human growth and development during childhood and adolescence. FC Barcelona signed Messi to a contract and agreed to pay for his treatment. He and his family moved to Barcelona. Messi joined the Barcelona youth team in 2000. He made his league debut in 2004. Messi obtained Spanish citizenship in 2005, but also kept his Argentine citizenship.
In 2006, Messi became the youngest Argentine to play in a World Cup match. In 2008-2009, he scored 38 goals to help Barcelona win a rare “treble” that consisted of the La Liga and Copa del Rey championships in Spain and the European Champions League title. On March 7, 2012, Messi set a Champions League record by scoring five goals against Bayer Leverkusen. In 2014, Messi received the Golden Ball, an award given to the best player in a World Cup tournament. Argentina lost to Germany in the final, 1-0. In 2022, he helped lead Argentina to the World Cup championship in Qatar and was again awarded the Golden Ball.
