Lionel Messi

Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (born 24th June 1987) is a retired Argentine professional footballer, who spent the majority of his career with Spanish club FC Barcelona and is the current manager of Argentina. Often considered to be be one of the best players of all time, Messi is the only player to win intercontinental titles in three different continents. He also won six FIFA BallonD'or titles, five UEFA Champions League titles, as well as four Copa Del Rey. Both a prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals scored in La Liga, a La Liga season (50), and a football season (82), as well as those for most assists made in La Liga and the Copa América. He has scored over 600 senior career goals for club and country.

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 Ballon 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.

After winning the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2015, Messi went on a barren spell of individual titles. His career rival Cristiano Ronaldo won the award in 2016 and 2017, before teammate Neymar won it in 2018. However, the 2018-19 season was a season in which Messi broke an El Clasico record, scoring five goals in a 6-2 victory over Real Madrid at the Camp Nou. Barcelona went on to win the title in 2018-19, as well as the UEFA Champions League title, and a run of 18 goals in 15 games at the beginning of the 2019-20 season saw Messi win his sixth FIFA Ballon d'Or award in January 2020.

During 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, Messi's place in the Barcelona team began to change, as the player was being used more and more as a central midfielder. His advancing years meant a lack of pace but increased composure and experience, with Messi topping the assist charts in La Liga in both seasons, with 21 and 20 respectively. After the 2021-2022 season, Messi declined to sign a contract extension with Barcelona and joined Chinese Super League team Jiangsu Suning, where he won the 2023 Asian Champions League, before signing with boyhood club River Plate in 2024.

An 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. He retired from international duty after the 2019 Copas America. He was then convicted of tax fraud committed from 2007 to 2009, for which he received a fine and a suspended prison sentence.