| Honours | | | | 2007/2008 |  | | | 2008/2009 | | | | 2009 | | | | 2009/2010 | | | | 2010/2011 | | | | 2011 | | | | 2011/2012 | | | | 2012/2013 | | | | 2014 | | | | 2015 | | | | 2015/2016 | | | | 2018/2019 | | | | 2021 | | | | 2022 | |
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Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (Spanish pronunciation: ; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi set numerous records for individual accolades won throughout his professional footballing career such as eight Ballon d'Or awards and eight times being named the world's best player by FIFA. He is the most decorated player in the history of professional football having won 45 team trophies, including twelve Big Five league titles, four UEFA Champions Leagues, two Copa Américas, and one FIFA World Cup. Messi holds the records for most European Golden Shoes (6), most goals for a single club (672, with Barcelona), most goals (474), hat-tricks (36) and assists (192) in La Liga, most matches played (39), assists (18) and goal contributions (34) in the Copa América, most matches played (26) and goal contributions (21) in the World Cup, most international appearances (191) and international goals (112) by a South American male, and the second-most in the latter category outright. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi has scored over 850 senior career goals for club and country.
Born in Rosario, Argentina, Messi relocated to Spain to join Barcelona at age 13, and made his competitive debut at age 17 in October 2004. He established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, and in his first uninterrupted season in 2008–09 helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football; that year, aged 22, Messi won the first of his four consecutive Ballons d'Or, the first player to win it four times. During the 2011–12 season, he set La Liga and European records for most goals in a season, while establishing himself as Barcelona's all-time top scorer. The following two seasons, he finished second for the Ballon d'Or behind Cristiano Ronaldo, his perceived career rival, before regaining his best form during the 2014–15 campaign, where he became the all-time top scorer in La Liga, led Barcelona to a historic second treble, and won a fifth Ballon d'Or in 2015. Messi assumed captaincy of Barcelona in 2018, and won a record sixth Ballon d'Or in 2019. During his overall tenure at Barcelona, Messi won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions Leagues, among others. Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License - Full article |