Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi Cuccittini[note 1] (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi] (About this sound listen); born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Often considered the best player in the world and regarded by many as the greatest of all time, Messi has a record-tying five Ballon d'Or awards,[note 2] four of which he won consecutively, and a record-tying four European Golden Shoes.[note 3] He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won 29 trophies, including eight La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles, and five Copas del Rey. Both a prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most official goals scored in La Liga (368), a La Liga season (50), a club football season in Europe (73), a calendar year (91), El Clásico (26), as well as those for most assists made in La Liga (146) and the Copa América (11). He has scored over 600 senior career goals for club and country.
