Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi

Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Barcelona. 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 five FIFA Ballons d'Or, four of which he won consecutively, and the first player to win three European Golden Shoes. With Barcelona he has won eight La Liga titles and fourUEFA Champions League titles, as well as four Copas del Rey. A prolific goalscorer, Messi holds the records for most goals scored in La Liga, a La Liga season (50), a calendar year (91), a single season (73), a Champions League match (5), and most Champions League seasons (5). Being also a creative playmaker, Messi holds the record for most assists made in La Liga and Copa América.

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.

A former Argentine international, Messi is his country's all-time leading goalscorer. At youth level, he won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, finishing the tournament with both the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, 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 from August 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals of the 2014 World Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball, and the 2015 and 2016 Copas América. After his fourth final defeat, Messi retired from international football aged 29, having represented his country in seven major tournaments.

Awards

• Ballon d'Or: 2009
• FIFA World Player of the Year: 2009
• UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 2009
• UEFA Club Forward of the Year: 2009
• FIFA Ballon d'Or: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015
• IFFHS World's Best Top Goalscorer: 2011, 2012
• IFFHS World's Best Top Division Goalscorer: 2012, 2013
• IFFHS World's Best Playmaker: 2015
• UEFA Best Player in Europe: 2011, 2015
• European Golden Shoe: 2010, 2012, 2013
• La Liga Best Player: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015
• La Liga Best Forward: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015
• La Liga Player of the Month: January 2016
• Olimpia de Plata (Argentine Footballer of the Year): 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015
• Olimpia de Oro (Argentine Sportsperson of the Year): 2011
• FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2009, 2011
• FIFA Club World Cup Silver Ball: 2015
• FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 2014
• Copa América Most Valuable Player: 2015 (rejected)
• FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
• UEFA Team of the Year: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015
• La Liga Team of the Year: 2015
• AFA Team of All Time (published 2015)
• FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2014
• Copa América Dream Team: 2007, 2011, 2015, 2016
• UEFA Goal of the Year: 2007, 2015
• Copa América Best Goal: 2007
• FIFPro Young World Player of the Year: 2006, 2007, 2008
• Golden Boy (Young European Footballer of the Year): 2005
• FIFA World Youth Championship Golden Ball: 2005
• FIFA World Youth Championship Golden Shoe: 2005
• Copa América Best Young Player: 2007

Performances

• La Liga top goalscorer: 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13
• La Liga top assist provider: 2010–11, 2014–15, 2015–16
• Copa del Rey top goalscorer: 2008–09, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2015–16
• UEFA Champions League top goalscorer: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2014–15
• UEFA Champions League top assist provider: 2011–12, 2014–15
• FIFA Club World Cup top goalscorer: 2011
• FIFA World Youth Championship top goalscorer: 2005
• Copa América top assist provider: 2011, 2015, 2016

Records

As of 21 June 2016

• Most FIFA Ballons d'Or: 5 (2009–12, 2015)
• Most consecutive FIFA Ballons d'Or: 4
• Youngest two-time and three-time FIFA Ballon d'Or winner: 23 and 24 years old
• Most UEFA Best Player in Europe awards: 3 (2009, 2011, 2015)
• Most La Liga Best Player awards: 6 (2009–13, 2015)
• Top goalscorer in La Liga: 312 goals
• Top assist provider in La Liga: 127 assists
• Top goalscorer in the Supercopa de España: 11 goals
• Top goalscorer in El Clásico: 21 goals
• Top goalscorer in the Derbi barceloní: 16 goals
• Top goalscorer in the UEFA Super Cup: 3 goals (shared with Arie Haan, Oleg Blokhin, Gerd Müller, Rob Rensenbrink, François Van der Elst, Terry McDermott, and Radamel Falcao)
• Top goalscorer in the FIFA Club World Cup: 5 goals (shared with César Delgado and Luis Suárez)
• Top goalscorer for club and country in a calendar year: 91 goals in 2012
• Top goalscorer in all club competitions in a calendar year: 79 goals in 2012
• Top goalscorer in all club competitions in a season: 73 goals in 2011–12
• Longest goalscoring run in a domestic league: 21 matches, 33 goals in 2012–13
• Top goalscorer in a La Liga season: 50 goals in 2011–12
• Most hat-tricks scored in a La Liga season: 8 in 2011–12 (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
• Only player to score consecutively against all opposition teams in La Liga: 19 matches, 30 goals in 2012–13
• Only player to have won more than one FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball.
• Youngest player to score 200 goals in La Liga: 25 years in 2013
• Only player to be top goalscorer in five UEFA Champions League seasons (2008–09 to 2011–12, 2014–15)
• Only player to be top goalscorer in four consecutive UEFA Champions League seasons
• Most hat-tricks scored in the UEFA Champions League: 5
• Most goals scored in a UEFA Champions League match: 5 in 2012 (shared with Luiz Adriano)
• Youngest player to make 100 appearances in the UEFA Champions League: 28 years, 84 days in 2015
• Most titles won with Barcelona: 28 (shared with Andrés Iniesta)
• Top goalscorer for Barcelona in official competitions: 448 goals
• Top goalscorer for Barcelona including friendlies: 477 goals
• Top goalscorer for Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League: 82 goals
• Most hat-tricks scored in all competitions by a Barcelona player: 35
• Most hat-tricks scored in La Liga by a Barcelona player: 26
• Only Barcelona player to be top goalscorer in three La Liga seasons (2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13)
• All-time top assist provider in Copa América: 11 assists
• Argentina all-time top goalscorer: 55 goals
• Top goalscorer for Argentina in a calendar year: 12 goals in 2012 (shared with Gabriel Batistuta)
• Youngest player to play for Argentina in a FIFA World Cup: 18 years, 357 days in 2006
• Youngest player to score for Argentina in a FIFA World Cup: 18 years, 357 days in 2006
• Youngest player to reach 100 caps for a country under CONMEBOL's jurisdiction: 27 years, 361 days in 2015