Lionel Andrs "Leo" Messi (Spanish pronunciation: [ljonel andes mesi] ( listen);

born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as

a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Often
considered the best player in the world and rated by many in the sport as the
greatest of all time, Messi is the only player in history to win five FIFA Ballon
d'Or awards, four of which he won consecutively, and the first to win
three European Golden Shoes.[note 2] With Barcelona he has won eight La
Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles, and four Copas del Rey, among
other trophies. Both a prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds
the records for most goals scored in La Liga, a La Liga season (50), and a club
football season in Europe (73), as well as those for most assists made in La Liga
and the Copa Amrica. He has scored over 500 senior career goals for club and
country.

Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi was diagnosed with a growth
hormone deficiency as a child. At age 13, he relocated to Spain to join Barcelona,
who agreed to pay for his medical treatment. After a fast progression through
Barcelona's youth academy, Messi made his competitive debut aged 17 in
October 2004. Despite being injury-prone during his early career, he established
himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, finishing
2007 as a finalist for both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the
Year award, a feat he repeated the following year. His first uninterrupted
campaign came in the 200809 season, during which he helped Barcelona
achieve the first treble in Spanish football. At 22 years old, Messi won the Ballon
d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award by record voting margins.

Three successful seasons followed, with Messi winning three consecutive FIFA
Ballons d'Or, including an unprecedented fourth. His personal best campaign to
date was the 201112 season, in which he set the La Liga and European records
for most goals scored in a single season, while establishing himself
as Barcelona's all-time top scorer in official competitions in March 2012. He again
struggled with injury during the following two seasons, twice finishing second for
the Ballon d'Or behind Cristiano Ronaldo, his perceived career rival. Messi
regained his best form during the 201415 campaign, breaking the all-time
goalscoring records in both La Liga and the Champions League in November
2014,[note 3] and led Barcelona to a historic second treble.
An Argentine international, Messi is his country's all-time leading goalscorer. At
youth level, he won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, finishing the
tournament with both the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and an Olympic gold
medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. His style of play as a diminutive, left-
footed dribbler drew comparisons with compatriot Diego Maradona, who declared
the teenager his successor. 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, and reached the final of the 2007 Copa Amrica, where he was
named young player of the tournament. As the squad's captain from August
2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals: the 2014 World Cup, for which
he won the Golden Ball, and the 2015 and 2016 Copas Amrica.