Lionel Messi Biography: Childhood, Career and Achievements

World football has witnessed many greats over the years. From Beckenbauer to Pele to Maradona, greats have added a different dimension to the sport. Amongst these greats, there is one player who has transcended the sport to become a living legend for the next generation. He is none other than the small boy from Rosario, Lionel Messi, who has the world at his feet today. 

Childhood

Born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina, Lionel Messi entered the world in a middle-class family where football ran in their blood. He was the third son of Jorge Messi and Celia Cuccittini, who worked as a steel factory manager and a manufacturing workshop employee respectively. Growing up in the Grandoli neighborhood of Rosario, Messi was coached by his father as he played for the local team. His grandmother was instrumental in nurturing his love for the beautiful game, often helping with training sessions and matches. 

At the age of seven, Lionel Messi donned the Newell’s Old Boys colors and impressed everyone with his movement and goal-scoring ability. While his growth hormone deficiency challenged him, he still scored 500 goals in six years. Messi caught the attention of Barcelona scouts, leading to a move that would change the history of the game. After understanding the health challenges, Barcelona offered to pay for the player’s treatment and relocate his entire family to Spain. However, the transfer conflict with Newell’s Old Boys had restricted his career at Catalonia. He could just feature in friendlies which made it difficult for the player to bond. With his mother returning to Rosario a year later, he felt homesick. 

However, the club registered Lionel Messi with the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in February 2002. This allowed him to play for the youth sides of Barcelona where he continuously made big strides. The teenager made it to the first team in the 2004/05 season where he became the youngest player to feature in the Spanish top flight. 

Career

The transition from La Masia to Barcelona’s senior team was seamless, as Messi made his debut for the club against Espanyol in 2004. What followed the debut was nothing short of extraordinary. Over 17 seasons with Barcelona, he featured in 519 La Liga fixtures and bagged 474 goals and 191 assists to his name. Under Pep Guardiola from 2008 to 2012, Lionel Messi showed the world what they could expect from him on the football pitch. He bagged 23, 31, 34, and 50 goals in the Spanish top-flight seasons from 2008/09 to 2011/12, respectively. The 2011/12 season saw him bagging 66 G/A in La Liga from 37 games. 

In the Champions League 2011/12, he had 19 G/A to his name. That season was a dream come true for the player, club, and fans. He came close to repeating the same in the next season with Messi bagging 57 G/A in the Spanish top flight. The individual brilliance of the Spanish top-flight side was unparalleled. There were several contract extensions that the player had, breaking multiple records.

However, in 2021, Barcelona had to release its greatest asset due to financial constraints. Once expected to retire in Spain, Lionel Messi had to move away from his childhood club. Paris Saint-Germain quickly grabbed the opportunity and signed him. While he had two seasons with him winning two Ligue 1 titles, his heart wasn't at the right place due to a new style of play and different tactical demands. 

The summer of 2023 marked a new chapter in Messi’s career. He joined Inter Miami CF in the MLS. His arrival in American football has raised the popularity of the sport in the United States of America. He continues to score goals for fun, boasting 31 G/A in the 2024/25 season and 15 G/A in the ongoing campaign. If Messi’s club career was a masterpiece, his international journey would be a story of heartbreak, perseverance, and redemption. Making his debut for Argentina's youth side in 2004, it took him just a year more to make his senior team debut against Hungary. In 2006, he made his World Cup debut but the side did not go far in the competition. 

In 2014, he came close to winning the elusive FIFA World Cup but Germany snatched it in extra time. Defeats over the next two years led him to briefly retire but the story was far from over. The Argentine returned to win the international titles. He won the 2021 Copa America, where he captured his first international trophy. He then wrote his name in the history books after guiding his side to the 2022 World Cup trophy in Qatar. 

Achievements

• Lionel Messi’s cabinet always ruled the hearts of fans and neutrals. The trophy cabinet looks like a fantasy collection that boasts two decades of excellence. 
• He has eight Ballon d’Or awards, which is a statement in itself. Apart from the Ballon d’Or wins, he was FIFA’s Best Player four times during his career. 
• The achievements at club level are nothing short of brilliant. He has 12 league titles, winning all of them with Barcelona. 
• His first-ever league title win was in 2004/05 and his final league title win was in 2022/23 with Paris St. Germain. Apart from this, he won four Champions League titles. 
• Messi has also won three FIFA Club World Cups with Barcelona. 
• At the international level, Messi has one Copa América and an Olympic medal with Argentina. 
• When it seemed like he would end his career without a World Cup, Messi won the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022.