Lionel Messi

 Lionel Andrés Leo Messi[note 1 Spanish pronunciation: ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi ⓘ; born 24 June 1987 is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a ahead for and captains both Major League Soccer membership Inter Miami and the Argentina countrywide group. Widely seemed as one of the best players of all time, Messi has gained a report 8 Ballon d'Or awards, a report six European Golden Shoes, and become named the sector's high-quality player for a file eight instances by FIFA. Be aware 2 Messi is the most decorated player inside the records of expert soccer, with forty four team trophies.[note 3] Until 2021, he had spent his complete professional career with Barcelona, where he gained a membership-document 34 trophies, together with ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles, and the UEFA Champions League four times. Playing for Argentina's countrywide group, he won  Copa América titles and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A prolific purpose scorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the statistics for most dreams 474, hat-hints 36, and assists 192 in La Liga, most appearances 39 and assists 18 within the Copa América. He has the most global goals 109 and appearances 187 via a South American male. Messi has scored over 800 senior profession dreams for club and united states, and the maximum goals for a unmarried membership 672.

Messi relocated to Spain and joined Barcelona aged thirteen, making his competitive debut at age 17 in October 2004. He hooked up himself as an critical participant for the club within the next three years, and in his first uninterrupted season in 2008–09 helped Barcelona acquire the first treble in Spanish soccer; that year, aged 22, Messi received his first Balloon d'Or. Messi gained four consecutive Balloons d'Or, the first player to win it four times. During the 2011–12 season, he set La Liga and European statistics for maximum goals in a season, at the same time as establishing himself as Barcelona's all-time top scorer. The following two seasons, he completed 2d for the Ballon d'Or at the back of Cristiano Ronaldo, his perceived career rival, before regaining his best form in the course of the 2014–15 marketing campaign, becoming the all-time top scorer in La Liga and main Barcelona to a historic 2d treble, and became awarded a 5th Ballon d'Or in 2015. Messi assumed captaincy of Barcelona in 2018, and received a file sixth Balloon d'Or in 2019. He signed for French membership Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021, spending two seasons there and winning Ligue 1 two times. Messi joined American membership Inter Miami in July 2023, winning the Leagues Cup in August.

An Argentine worldwide, Messi is the u . S .'s all-time main goals corer and holds the country wide file for appearances. At teens level, he won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship and gold on the 2008 Summer Olympics. His style of play as a diminutive, left-footed dribbler drew comparisons with compatriot Diego Maradona, who described Messi as his successor. After his senior debut in 2005, Messi have become the youngest Argentine to play and score in a FIFA World Cup 2006. As the squad's captain from 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals: the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2015 Copa América and the 2016 Copa América. After pronouncing his global retirement in 2016, he back to lead his USA to qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and victory inside the 2021 Copa América. He led Argentina to win the 2022 World Cup, wherein he received a document 2d Golden Ball, scored seven desires including two inside the very last, and broke the file for maximum video games played on the World Cup 26, later receiving his file-extending 8th Ballon d'Or in 2023. He then received a second Copa América as captain in 2024.

Messi has endorsed sports wear organization Adidas on the grounds that 2006. According to France Football, he became the sector's maximum-paid footballer for five years out of six among 2009 and 2014, and was ranked the sector's highest-paid athlete by means of Forbes in 2019 and 2022. Messi was among Time's a hundred maximum influential people inside the world in 2011, 2012, and 2023. In 2020 and 2023, he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, the primary crew-recreation athlete to win it. In 2020, Messi turned into named to the Ballon d'Or Dream Team and have become the second one footballer and second group-recreation athlete to surpass $1 billion in profession earnings. In 2024, Messi founded Más+.