Lionel Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He is often considered the best player in the world and regarded by many as the greatest of all time. He has scored over 600 senior career goals for club and country.
Records
• Messi is the only player in history to win five FIFA Ballon d’Or awards, four of which he won consecutively, and a record-tying four European Golden Shoes.
• Both a prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most official goals scored in La Liga (360), a La Liga season (50) and a club football season in Europe (73), a calendar year (91), as well as those for most assists made in La Liga (139) and the Copa América.
• Messi is his country’s all-time leading goalscorer. 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.
• He is the only player to have won more than one FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball.
• He is the only player to have won more than one FIFA Club World Cup Final Most Valuable Player award.
Awards
• Ballon d’Or/FIFA Ballon d’Or: 2009,
2010, 2011, 2012, 2015
• European Golden Shoe: 2010, 2012,
2013, 2017
• FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 2014
• FIFA World Player of the Year: 2009
• UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award:
2011, 2015
• UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 2009
• World Soccer World Player of the
Year: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015
• Onze d’Or: 2009, 2010–11, 2011–12
• Globe Soccer Awards Best Player of
the Year: 2015
• Best Player in La Liga: 2009, 2010, 2011,
2012, 2013, 2015
