Everything to know about Lionel Messi: Trophies, contract, salary, net worth, wife and family of Argentina star

Without a shred of doubt, Lionel Messi is one of the greatest players to ever play the game of football.

The former Barcelona star, who is now playing for PSG in France, has had a legendary career, both at the club level and on the international stage with Argentina. As one of the sport’s most talented forwards, ‘Leo’ has scored and assisted goals in record fashion, with his highlights regularly making the rounds across the globe.

From November-December 2022, Messi will look to lead Argentina to the pinnacle of the sport at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, a trophy he has yet to conquer. At 35 years old, he has already confirmed it will be his last shot at doing so.

The Sporting News brings you everything you wanted to know about the generational talent known as ‘La Pulga’ (The Flea).

Lionel Messi contract, salary at PSG

For 17 seasons, Messi was synonymous with the shirt of Spain’s Barcelona, the club he joined as a boy and subsequently led to countless trophies.

When he became a free agent in the summer of 2021 he decided to leave the only club he’d ever known — it was a club in turmoil due to a period of financial mismanagement — and he joined PSG on a free transfer, helping them to a French league title in his first season.

Upon arriving in the French capital, Messi signed a two-year contract with an option for a third season, which if exercised will take him into the summer of 2024. By then he hopes to have led PSG to its first UEFA Champions League title, a dream in which the club owners have invested heavily, including by signing Messi.

According to a report by French publication L’Equipe, Messi’s contract at PSG sees him earn €110 million over the life of the three-year deal, with €30 million paid the first season, and €40 million through each of the final two campaigns. The financials of Messi’s deal are identical to that of his Brazilian teammate Neymar, according to the report.

There have been whispers of PSG looking to extend Messi’s contract beyond the current limits of the deal, but reports indicate that he will only begin discussions following the conclusion of the 2022 World Cup.

Lionel Messi trophies won

Lionel Messi has won countless trophies throughout his glittering career, although those at the international level were hard to come by.

He won 10 La Liga titles (Spanish league), seven Spanish Copa del Rey crowns, and four UEFA Champions League titles with Barcelona before departing the club in the summer of 2021.

Messi captured the French Ligue 1 in his first season with PSG, with the Champions League and French Cup (Coupe de France) still on the to-do list with Les Parisiens.

Trophies won at Barcelona

Trophies won at PSG

Trophies won with Argentina

Lionel Messi Barcelona, PSG club career

Messi began his career as a youth player with his boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys in Rosario, Argentina. However, he would move on at a young age, heading to Barcelona’s famed La Masia youth academy in 2000 as a 13-year-old. In Spain he would also receive medical treatments for a growth hormone disorder.

Messi made his professional debut for Barcelona as an 18-year-old in 2004, coming on for the final eight minutes of a 1-0 league win over derby rivals Espanyol on October 16. He scored his first professional goal later that season, helping Barcelona to a 2-0 win over Albacete on May 1, 2015.

From there, Messi quickly rose into a first-team player, becoming a regular starter the following season. He would go on to become a Barcelona legend, making 778 total appearances for the Catalan club and scoring 672 goals, assisting 303 more. He won four Champions League titles, 10 La Liga championships, and seven Copa del Rey titles, while becoming the Spanish top flight’s leading goalscorer eight times.

In the summer of 2021, with Messi’s gargantuan Barcelona contract expiring and the club facing significant financial difficulties, they were forced to let Messi go for free to ease the wage bill and meet player wage limits set by the Spanish league. It was a difficult but necessary decision to balance the books.

PSG’s Qatari ownership group took advantage, signing Messi to a three-year deal in the hopes that the legendary forward could help the club secure the elusive Champions League crown they’ve chased for years.

Lionel Messi international career with Argentina

While he established himself as a world superstar at Barcelona, most of Messi’s international career with Argentina has been defined by how close he’s come to hoisting trophies for his national team, rather than actually winning the silverware. He’s hoping to change that narrative once and for all at the 2022 FIFA World Cup after winning his first two trophies with the senior Argentina side between 2021 and 2022.

Messi’s first morsel of FIFA World Cup action came in 2006, where he served as a bench option for the Albiceleste, but it was too early in his career to leave a mark. Messi watched from the sidelines as Argentina fell to Germany 1-0 in the quarterfinals.

The European nation would prove a consistent thorn in Argentina’s side, eliminating them from three of Messi’s first four World Cups. One of those head-to-head matchups came in the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil, where Germany scored the only goal in extra time to win the title, denying Messi, who won the Golden Ball for best player in that tournament.

In addition to the World Cup disappointments, there was plenty of heartbreak in the Copa America, the South American championship for national teams. Argentina reached the final in three of four tournaments between 2007-2016 and lost all three, including two on penalty kicks to Chile.

But Messi’s moment finally came in the 2021 Copa America, where he willed his team to victory, hoisting his first international trophy with the senior men’s side. Messi scored four goals and assisted five, beating Brazil 1-0 in the final thanks to an absolute stunner from his close friend Angel Di Maria.

With that triumph in recent memory, alongside a comprehensive 3-0 win over European champions Italy in the first edition of the Finalissima (June 2022), Messi will hope to close out his international career with aplomb at the 2022 World Cup.

Messi and Argentina entered the 2022 FIFA World Cup on a 36-match unbeaten streak, second-most all-time and one short of the record set by Italy.

Lionel Messi net worth

According to Insider and Forbes, Messi was the highest-paid athlete in the 2021/22 season, banking $130 million from May 2021 to May 2022 between salary, endorsements, and other traceable income.

An estimated $75 million of that came from his PSG contractual income, between his $35 million salary, $25 million signing bonus, and other earnings such as image rights and contract bonuses.

Messi also has millions in endorsement deals with companies like Socios, Pepsi, Adidas, Budweiser, and Hard Rock.

According to entrepreneurial and financial tracking blog Wealthy Gorilla, Lionel Messi’s net worth is upwards of $600 million as of August 2022. A Forbes report from June 2022 pegged Messi’s career earnings haul at over $1.1 billion.

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Lionel Messi wife & family

Messi is married to 34-year-old Argentine model Antonella Roccuzzo, who is from his hometown of Rosario, Argentina.

The two reportedly knew each other when they were five year olds, and began publicly dating back in 2009 when Messi was just 22 years old. They married in 2017 and have three sons: Thiago (Nov. 2, 2012), Mateo (Sept. 11, 2015), and Ciro (March 10, 2018).

Messi’s father, Jorge Messi, has served as his son’s agent for his entire career. It all started when Leo was 13 years old as he moved from Rosario to Catalonia, securing his Barcelona future and simultaneously seeing the club pay for treatment of his GHD diagnosis (Growth Hormone Disorder). Famously, Messi’s first Barcelona contract was signed on a napkin.

‘Leo’ is the third of four children, giving him three siblings. He has two older brothers Rodrigo and Matias, and a younger sister Maria Sol.

Rodrigo is also employed by Leo, handling his schedule and publicity, according to a biography written by Guillem Balague, while his mother Celia and Matias oversee his charitable foundation.