Top facts about the best footballer in the world, Lionel Messi

The top fact about the unstoppable player of the history, Lionel Messi, is that he has played 708 matches, scored 620 goals, won 34 club titles including 10 La Liga titles, provided 240 assists, and attained 73 awards.

Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or, plays for both Barcelona and the Argentinian national team, and is considered by some to be the greatest living football player in the world.

During the last year, Lionel Messi secured his sixth Ballon d'Or award after yet another brilliant season for the Argentine.

The 32-year-old saw off competition from the likes of Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk to win the prestigious award.

The following are some amazing facts about Messi to show that he is definitely one of the best in the world!

Barcelona and Argentina forward was righteously granted the greatest footballer of all time title, beating the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Pele, and Diego Maradona.

Messi’s name and nicknames

Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini was born in Argentina in 1987. His father, Jorge Horacio, was a blue-collar steelworker. He also coached the local youth football club for his sons.

Lionel is a diminutive of Leon, which in Latin means “lion.” But, Leo or Lio? The story behind the legend’s name is among the interesting facts everybody is interested to know about the best footballer in the world.

There are no doubts for Messi's parents. Jorge and Celia baptized him as Lionel, not by some Argentine soccer player, but by his father's iconic singer, Lionel Richie.

In 1987, the year that Lionel was born, the most popular songs in Argentina were the romantic ballads of the American composer, Lionel Richie. Although as a music legend, Richie never thought that his name would also be immortalized in the world's most popular sport.

Some of his nicknames include the Flea, La Pulga, and the Goat.

Messi’s wife

Messi met his wife when he was only five years old and in June of 2017, he married his childhood friend, Antonella Roccuzzo in what was called the "wedding of the century.”

The two have known each other all their lives, meeting in Argentina. Messi and Roccuzzo had two sons together, Thiago and Mateo before they got engaged.

Messi’s lavish wedding had over 260 guests at a luxury hotel. Many of the attendees were professional soccer players and other celebrities; Neymar, Luis Suarez, Cesc Fabregas, Javier Mascherano, and Carles Puyol, Pique, and Shakira were among the guests at this extravagant, star-studded wedding.

Messi’s net worth

It is estimated that Messi is worth $80 Million, making him one of the highest-paid athletes of all time. However, he said to reporters, “My motivation comes from playing the game I love. If I wasn’t paid to be a professional footballer I would willingly play for nothing.”

Messi has a lifelong endorsement deal with Adidas. The company paid him $27 million to be in their commercials and ad campaigns.

In order to raise money for the victims of the 2013 earthquake and tsunami, Messi donated a casting of his foot, which was turned into a golden statue. The golden foot was auctioned off for $5.25 Million.

He established the Leo Messi Foundation, which helps kids who are born with illnesses get medical treatments if their families cannot afford to help them. Messi is also a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.

Messi donated almost a million dollars to rehabilitate a children’s hospital in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina. This covered repairs to the building, new machines to monitor and treat childhood cancer, and extra medical training for the doctors.

Back-to-back hat tricks

Starting from January 2010, Lionel Messi scored many hat tricks in his matches against different teams and won all these matches.

He was the first player of the Barcelona club who had earned such an achievement.

Messi scored hat tricks against Valencia and Real Zaragoza, becoming the first Barcelona player to score back-to-back hat tricks in La Liga.

He scored his 100th goal for the club during the season of 2009-10 and participated in the 200th official football match for his club against CA Osasuna in 2010.

In general, more than 100 players have scored at least a hat-trick. Lionel Messi has scored 35 La Liga hat-tricks, making him the player with the most hat-tricks in the La Liga history.

Messi’s awards

As an extremely talented player, Messi has won more trophies than most football players will ever dream of. Indeed, he is the best football player in the world who plays for Barcelona, where winning trophies has become a tradition.

The Argentine maestro won his first Ballon d’Or 11 years ago in 2009 and since then he has gone on to take the award in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2019, collecting a total of 6 Ballon d’Ors so far.

Moreover, Messi has won his sixth European Golden Shoe, awarded to the player with the most league goals in any of Europe's top-flight leagues. Messi's 36 goals in 34 games in LaLiga Santander this season meant that he finished three ahead of Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe.

Since his first match for Barcelona in 2004, Lionel Messi has won a whopping 30 trophies.

His other achievements include Champions League trophies, 10 La Liga titles, 6 Copa Del Reys, 3 UEFA Super Cups, and 3 FIFA Club World Cup.

Messi’s educational background

The final fact is that the Barcelona talisman studied in an elementary school in Naraynganj, Bangladesh. He then went to Las Heras for elementary school. Since Messi started playing soccer at a very young age, he did not have the opportunity to attend college; meanwhile, his potential has been identified by FC Barcelona.