Lionel Messi's 40th Birthday Countdown

Lionel Messi Timeline

Lionel Messi records

About Lionel Messi

Messi spent two decades at Barcelona rewriting the record books before captaining Argentina to the 2022 World Cup and bringing his magic to Inter Miami, collecting a record eight Ballon d'Or awards along the way.

The contract on a napkin

In September 2000, a tiny 13-year-old from Rosario flew to Barcelona for a trial; sporting director Carles Rexach later said he needed less than five minutes to decide. With the deal stalling that December, Rexach grabbed a paper napkin at the Pompeia tennis club and wrote out Barcelona's commitment to sign Lionel Messi - a promise that included paying for the growth-hormone treatment his family could not afford. In 2024 that napkin sold at a Bonhams auction for about $965,000.

Eight golden balls and one golden night

Messi's numbers read like typos: 672 goals in 778 games for Barcelona, a record 91 goals in the 2012 calendar year, and eight Ballon d'Or awards - more than any player in history. The crowning moment came in Qatar in December 2022, when he scored seven goals, won the tournament's Golden Ball, and lifted the World Cup after a 3-3 final against France decided on penalties - the one trophy that had always escaped him, finally in Argentine hands after 36 years.

Health, education, and a place to play

Messi created the Leo Messi Foundation in 2007, built around the idea that every child deserves the same shot at their dreams, funding health, education, and sport projects in Argentina and beyond. He has served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2010; in 2019 his foundation gave 200,000 euros to UNICEF projects in Kenya for clean water and food, and, together with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, it donated the final 2.6 million euros needed to complete funding for the SJD Pediatric Cancer Center in Barcelona, one of Europe's largest.

Quick facts

• Born June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina
• Record eight-time Ballon d'Or winner
• Captained Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title, winning the Golden Ball
• Scored 672 goals in 778 games for Barcelona, both club records
• His 91 goals in 2012 are the most ever scored in a calendar year
• His first Barcelona agreement was written on a napkin that sold for about $965,000 in 2024