Messi started playing football as a boy and was noticed by clubs on both sides of the Atlantic. When he was 13, his syndicate relocated to Barcelona. He played for FC Barcelona ’ s under-14 team, cursorily graduating through the higher-level teams until his informal debut at historic period 16 with FC Barcelona in a friendly match. Lionel Messi is an Argentine -born football ( soccer ) player who was named Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA ) world player of the class five times ( 2009–12 and 2015 ). naturally left-footed, quick, and precise in control of the musket ball, Messi is known as a keen pass distributor and can readily thread his way through pack defenses. Lionel Messi, in full Lionel Andrés Messi, besides called Leo Messi, ( born June 24, 1987, Rosario, Argentina ), Argentine-born football ( soccer ) musician who was named Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA ) populace actor of the year five times ( 2009–12 and 2015 ).

Messi started playing football as a son and in 1995 joined the youth team of Newell ’ s Old Boys ( a Rosario-based top-division football club ). Messi ’ s phenomenal skills garnered the attention of esteemed clubs on both sides of the Atlantic. At senesce 13 Messi and his class relocated to Barcelona, and he began playing for FC Barcelona ’ s under-14 team. He scored 21 goals in 14 games for the junior team, and he cursorily graduated through the higher-level teams until at age 16 he was given his cozy debut with FC Barcelona in a friendly couple. In the 2004–05 temper Messi, then 17, became the youngest official actor and finish scorekeeper in the spanish La Liga ( the nation ’ s highest division of football ). Though lone 5 feet 7 inches ( 1.7 metres ) tall and weighing 148 pounds ( 67 kilogram ), he was hard, well-adjusted, and versatile on the field. naturally left-footed, quick, and precise in master of the musket ball, Messi was a lament pass allocator and could readily thread his way through pack defenses. In 2005 he was granted spanish citizenship, an honor greeted with interracial feelings by the ferociously catalan supporters of Barcelona. The adjacent year Messi and Barcelona won the Champions League ( the European club backing ) title. Messi ’ s play continued to quickly improve over the years, and by 2008 he was one of the most dominant players in the world, finishing second to Manchester United ’ mho Cristiano Ronaldo in the vote for the 2008 FIFA World Player of the year. In early 2009 Messi capped off a outstanding 2008–09 season by helping FC Barcelona capture the baseball club ’ sulfur beginning “ double ” ( winning three major european clubhouse titles in one season ) : the team won the La Liga championship, the Copa del Rey ( Spain ’ s major domestic cup ), and the Champions League style. He scored 38 goals in 51 matches during that season, and he bested Ronaldo in the ballot for FIFA World Player of the year honor by a record margin. During the 2009–10 season Messi scored 34 goals in domestic games as Barcelona repeated as La Liga champions. He earned the Golden Shoe award as Europe ’ randomness leading scorekeeper, and he was named the 2010 populace player of the class ( the prize was renamed the FIFA Ballon d ’ Or that year ).

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Messi led Barcelona to La Liga and Champions League titles the comply season, which helped him capture an unprecedented third back-to-back universe actor of the year award. In March 2012 he netted his 233rd goal for Barcelona, becoming the club ’ s all-time leading scorekeeper in La Liga free rein when only 24 years old. He finished Barcelona ’ s 2011–12 season ( which included another Copa del Rey winnings ) with 73 goals in all competitions, breaking Gerd Müller ’ s 39-year-old record for single-season goals in a major european football league. His landmark season led to his being named the 2012 world musician of the class, which made Messi the first player to win the honor four times. His 46 La Liga goals in 2012–13 led the league, and Barcelona captured another domestic top-division backing that temper. In 2014 he set the overall Barcelona goal record when he scored his 370th goal as a member of the team. That same class he besides broke the career score records for play in both the Champions League ( with 72 goals ) and La Liga ( with 253 goals ). Messi helped Barcelona capture another treble during the 2014–15 season, leading the team with 43 goals scored over the course of the political campaign, which resulted in his one-fifth world player of the year honor. He scored 41 goals across all competitions for Barcelona in 2015–16, and the club won the La Liga title and the Copa del Rey during that season. Messi topped that with 53 goals for Barcelona in 2016–17, leading the team to another Copa del Rey title. In 2017–18 he scored 45 goals, and Barcelona won the La Liga–Copa del Rey double once again. Messi scored 51 goals across all domestic competitions in 2018–19 as Barcelona won another La Liga championship. In December 2019 he won his sixth career Ballon five hundred ’ Or. In the 2020–21 season, Barcelona claimed the Copa del Rey style, the seventh of Messi ’ s career. He became a barren agent in 2021, and fiscal issues—some of which were the result of La Liga rules—largely prevented him from re-signing with Barcelona. He left the club having set a number of records ; notably, he was the lead goal scorer in the league ’ randomness history ( 474 ). by and by in 2021 he signed with Paris St.-Germain. Despite his double citizenship and professional success in Spain, Messi ’ mho ties with his fatherland remained strong, and he was a key penis of diverse Argentine national teams from 2005. He played on Argentina ’ randomness triumphant 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship police squad, represented the state in the 2006 World Cup, and scored two goals in five matches as Argentina swept to the gold decoration at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Messi helped Argentina reach the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals, where the team was eliminated by Germany for the second back-to-back clock time in World Cup play. At the 2014 World Cup, Messi put on a dazzling expose, scoring four goals and about single-handed propelling an offense-deficient Argentina team through the group stage and into the smasher rounds, where Argentina then advanced to the World Cup final for the first time in 24 years. Argentina lost that contest 1–0 to Germany, but Messi however won the Golden Ball award as the tournament ’ s best musician. During the 2016 Copa América Centenario tournament, he netted his fifty-fifth external goal to break Gabriel Batistuta ’ s Argentine score record. After Argentina was defeated in the Copa final—the team ’ s third straight finals passing in a major tournament—Messi said that he was quitting the national team, but his ephemeral “ retirement ” lasted less than two months before he announced his restitution to the Argentine team. At the 2018 World Cup, he helped an overmatched Argentine side reach the knockout stage, where they were eliminated by eventual supporter France in their first pit. After a third-place complete at the 2019 Copa América, Messi led Argentina to victory in the tournament two years late, and he received the Golden Ball award. Off the field, Messi was one of the biggest athletic stars in the populace. In accession to earning a football wage that was frequently, with Ronaldo ’ randomness, one of the two largest athletes ’ salaries in all professional sports, he was an extremely successful intersection pitchman, notably for the sportswear company Adidas. In 2013 Messi and his don ( who handled his son ’ second finances ) were charged with tax imposter and accused of using oversea husk companies to avoid paying €4.2 million in spanish taxes on sanction earnings. Despite subsequently paying €5 million to the spanish express, the pair were however ordered to stand test on the charges in 2016. In July of that year, Messi and his church father were each given suspended 21-month prison sentences ( first-time offenders in Spain are given suspend sentences if the duration is under two years ) and were fined €2 million and €1.5 million, respectively.