Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi Net Worth, Income, Career & All Wiki [World Cup 2022]

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Updated On October 19, 2022
Birthday
Country
Argentina
Playing Position
Forward
Last Updated
October 2022
Birthday
Playing Position
Forward
What is Lionel Messi recent Net worth?
$600 million

Who is Lionel Messi?

Lionel Andrés Messi, usually known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who captains the Argentina national team and plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi has won a record seven Ballon d’Or trophies, a record six European Golden Shoes, and was nominated to the Ballon d’Or Dream Team in 2020. He is largely acknowledged as the finest player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.

He spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, winning a club-record 35 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey crowns, and four UEFA Champions Leagues until leaving in 2021. Messi is a prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker who owns the records for most goals (474), a La Liga and European league season (50), most hat-tricks (36) and the UEFA Champions League (8), and most assists (192), a La Liga season (21) and the Copa América (17).

He’s also the South American male with the most international goals (81). Messi has almost 750 senior career goals for club and country, making him the all-time leading goal scorer for a single club.

Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Santa Fe, to Jorge Messi, a steel industry manager, and Celia Cuccittini, a magnet manufacturing workshop worker.

He is of Italian and Spanish heritage on his father’s side, the great-grandson of immigrants from the northwestern Adriatic Marche area of Italy and Catalonia, and mostly Italian ancestry on his mother’s side. “Leo” developed a fascination for football at a young age, playing alongside his older brothers, Rodrigo and Matas, and cousins, Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi, both of whom went on to become professional footballers.

He joined local team Grandoli at the age of four, where he was taught by his father, however his maternal grandmother, Celia, who accompanied him to training and tournaments, was his first influence as a player. Her death, which occurred just before his eleventh birthday, had a profound impact on him; as a devout Catholic, he has since celebrated his accomplishments by looking up and pointing to the sky in honor of his grandmother.

Messi has been a lifetime follower of Newell’s Old Boys, having joined the Rosario club at the age of six. He scored around 500 goals as a member of “The Machine of ’87,” the near-unbeatable youth team named after their birth year, and often captivated spectators by performing ball feats during half-time of the first team’s home games throughout his six years with Newell’s.

His professional career was jeopardized, however, when he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficit at the age of ten. Newell’s agreed to donate because his father’s health insurance only covered two years of growth hormone treatment, which cost at least $1,000 per month, but eventually backtracked.

He was scouted by Buenos Aires club River Plate, whose playmaker, Pablo Aimar, he idolized, but owing to Argentina’s economic collapse, they were unable to pay for his therapy. Ronaldo was his childhood idol, with Messi describing him as “the best forward I’ve ever seen.”

Because the Messi family have relatives in Catalonia, a trial with Barcelona was arranged in September 2000. Charly Rexach, the first team director, wanted to sign him right away, but the board of directors was hesitant; signing foreign players at such a young age was unusual for European clubs at the time.

On the 14th of December, Barcelona was given an ultimatum to prove their commitment, and Rexach, having no other material, offered a contract on a paper napkin. The family moved to Barcelona in February 2001, and they settled into an apartment near Camp Nou, the club’s stadium.

Due to a transfer conflict with Newell’s, Messi only played for the Infantiles in friendlies and the Catalan league during his first year in Spain. Without football, he struggled to fit in with the team; naturally reclusive, he was so silent that his teammates mistook him for deaf.

His mother returned to Rosario with his brothers and little sister, Mara Sol, while he stayed in Barcelona with his father, causing him homesickness at home.

The love story between Lionel Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo is nothing short of a fairy tale. They both grew raised in Argentina’s same village. In 1996, Lionel Messi’s wife first met the future Barcelona star. They met at Antonella Roccuzzo’s cousin’s house, according to reports.

Their relationship, however, did not begin until 2007. Until 2010, when they made her love official and married each other, the couple had their ups and downs.

The total net worth of Lionel Messi is estimated to be $600 Million. He stands at number 3 ranking in the world among the highest-paid athletes. He currently earns $41 million per year with PSG. Though only 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 meters) tall and weighing 148 pounds (67 kg), he is strong, well-balanced, and versatile on the field.

The Career of Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi Barcelona

Player: Lionel Messi Barcelona (source: Mirror)]

Messi began playing football as a child and joined Newell’s Old Boys’ youth team in 1995. (a Rosario-based top-division football club). Messi’s incredible abilities drew the attention of top clubs on both sides of the Atlantic.

Messi and his family moved to Barcelona when he was 13 years old, and he began playing for FC Barcelona’s under-14 team. He scored 21 goals in 14 games for the junior squad, and he quickly advanced through the higher-level levels, making his formal debut with FC Barcelona in a friendly match at the age of 16.

In the 2004–05 season, Messi, then 17 years old, became the youngest official player and goal scorer in La Liga (Spain’s top football league). He was strong, well-balanced, and adaptable on the field despite being only 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 metres) tall and weighing 148 pounds (67 kg).

Messi was a natural left-footer who was quick and precise in his ball control and could easily thread his way past crowded defenders. In 2005, he was granted Spanish citizenship, which was met with mixed emotions by Barcelona’s staunchly Catalan supporters. Messi and Barcelona won the Champions League (European club championship) the next year.

Messi’s play improved dramatically over time, and by 2008, he was one of the world’s most dominant players, placing second to Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the FIFA World Player of the Year poll. In early 2009, Messi helped FC Barcelona achieve the club’s first “treble” (winning three major European club titles in one season): the squad won La Liga, the Copa del Rey (Spain’s primary domestic cup), and the Champions League.

During that season, he scored 38 goals in 51 games and won the FIFA World Player of the Year award by a record margin against Ronaldo. During the 2009–10 season, Messi scored 34 goals in domestic games as Barcelona won La Liga for the second consecutive season. As Europe’s top scorer, he won the Golden Shoe award, and he was crowned world player of the year in 2010 (the honor was renamed the FIFA Ballon d’Or that year).

The following season, Messi led Barcelona to La Liga and Champions League wins, earning him an unprecedented third consecutive world player of the year honor. He scored his 233rd goal for Barcelona in March 2012, making him the club’s all-time greatest scorer in La Liga’s play at the age of 24.

He scored 73 goals in all competitions for Barcelona in the 2011–12 season (which included another Copa del Rey victory), shattering Gerd Müller’s 39-year-old record for most single-season goals in a major European football league. After a historic season, Messi was crowned 2012 World Player of the Year, making him the first player to win the award four times.

His 46 La Liga goals in 2012–13 led the league, and Barcelona won their second consecutive domestic top-flight title. When he scored his 370th goal for Barcelona in 2014, he broke the club’s all-time goal record. In the same year, he set career scoring records in both the Champions League and La Liga (with 72 goals) (with 253 goals).

During the 2014–15 season, Messi led Barcelona to another triple, scoring 43 goals in the process, earning him his fifth world player of the year award. In 2015–16, he scored 41 goals in all competitions for Barcelona, helping the club win the La Liga title and the Copa del Rey.

In 2016–17, Messi set a new record with 53 goals for Barcelona, guiding the team to another Copa del Rey title. He scored 45 goals in 2017–18, and Barcelona won the La Liga and Copa del Rey double for the second time. In 2018–19, Messi scored 51 goals in all domestic competitions as Barcelona won another La Liga title. He earned his sixth Ballon d’Or of his career in December 2019.

Barcelona won the Copa del Rey for the seventh time in Messi’s career in the 2020–21 season. In 2021, he became a free agent, and financial concerns, some of which were caused by La Liga laws, made it difficult for him to re-sign with Barcelona. He left the club having achieved a number of records, including being the league’s all-time leading goal scorer (474). He later signed with Paris St.-Germain in 2021.

Messi’s links to Argentina remained strong despite his dual citizenship and professional success in Spain, and he was a crucial player of different Argentine national teams beginning in 2005. He was a member of Argentina’s World Youth Championship-winning team in 2005, played for the country in the 2006 World Cup, and scored two goals in five games as Argentina won gold in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Argentina advanced to the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals when they were ousted for the second time in World Cup play by Germany.

Messi put on a stunning performance in the 2014 World Cup, scoring four goals and nearly single-handedly guiding an offense-deficient Argentina side through the group stage and into the knockout rounds, where Argentina advanced to the World Cup final for the first time in 24 years. Argentina lost 1–0 to Germany in that match, but Messi was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament’s outstanding player. He scored his 55th international goal during the 2016 Copa América Centenario event, breaking Gabriel Batistuta’s Argentine scoring record.

Messi announced his retirement from the national team after Argentina lost in the Copa final—the country’s third consecutive finals loss in a major tournament—but his “retirement” lasted less than two months before he announced his return to Argentina. He led an overmatched Argentine team to reach the knockout stage of the 2018 World Cup, but they were ousted in their first encounter by eventual champion France. Following a third-place finish at the 2019 Copa América, Messi led Argentina to victory two years later, earning him the Golden Ball trophy.

Awards, Titles, and Achievements

Lionel Messi Ballon D'or

Player: Lionel Messi Ballon D’or (source: Mirror)

Lionel Messi is one of the greatest players in the history of football. He has won many trophies in his career with club and a country and received numerous amount of individual titles.

Barcelona

  • La Liga: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19
  • Copa del Rey: 2008–09, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2020–21
  • Supercopa de España: 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018
  • UEFA Champions League: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15
  • UEFA Super Cup: 2009, 2011, 2015
  • FIFA Club World Cup: 2009, 2011, 2015

Paris Saint-Germain

  • Ligue 1: 2021–22

Argentina

  • Copa América: 2021; runner-up: 2007, 2015, 2016
  • FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2014

Argentina Olympic

  • Summer Olympics: 2008

Argentina U20

  • FIFA World Youth Championship: 2005

Individual

  • Ballon d’Or/FIFA Ballon d’Or: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021
  • FIFA World Player of the Year: 2009
  • The Best FIFA Men’s Player: 2019
  • European Golden Shoe: 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
  • FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 2014
  • La Liga Best Player: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15
  • Argentine Footballer of the Year: 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021
  • Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: 2020