Lionel Messi who is 35-year-old today, June 24, 2022, is probably the first player that springs to mind when you think of the greatest footballers of all time.
For the past 18 years, the Argentine legend has dominated the world of football on both national and international stages. Messi is still doing well for PSG and Argentina as he continues to establish his legacy, even though he has already clocked 35-year-old.
🎂 Happy Birthday, Leo Messi! ❤️💙🤩
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) June 24, 2022
🎉3⃣5️⃣ pic.twitter.com/X0UPyby1Po
In celebration of his 35th birthday, here is a look at some facts about Lionel Messi and some of his numerous achievements in football.
1. Lionel Messi club career
The GOAT started his career at the academy of Newell’s Old Boys before accepting to play for Barcelona at just 13 years old. Lionel Messi played his first professional game for the Spanish giants at the age of 17 and was used as a substitute in a La Liga match against Espanyol in October 2004.
Messi finished his career with Barcelona as the club’s greatest legend with 672 goals in 778 games for the Catalans from 2004 until 2021. He established himself as one of the greatest players of all time during his time with Barcelona. The GOAT as he’s usually called won all the trophies available at the club level while in Spain.
With Barcelona, he won four Champions Leagues, 10 La Liga titles, seven Copa del Reys, seven Supercopa de Espanas, three UEFA Super Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups.
In August 2021, Messi moved to PSG as a free transfer and already has the Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain.
2. Messi’s country career
To some people, Lionel Messi is not the greatest player to play for the Argentinian national team but that is a debate for another day. The 35-year-old has 86 goals for Argentina in 162 appearances. He has suffered criticism from many football fans because of his inability to land a major trophy for his country.
However, he led the national team to their first major trophy in many years at the Copa America in 2021 after losing to Germany at the 2014 World Cup final. Messi and Argentina recently got their hands on the Finalissima trophy after victory against Italy.
3. Ballon d’Or Serial winner
Lionel Messi is the current holder of the prestigious individual award and also the player who has won the trophy the most. Messi has a total of 7 Ballon d’Or awards to his name, two more than his long-time rival and colleague Cristiano Ronaldo.
4. Lionel Messi – A goal machine
In his trophy-filled career, Lionel Messi has collected the Golden Shoe six times. He currently holds the record for most Golden Shoes in club football history winning the award in 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2016–17, 2017–18, and 2018–19 seasons. The PSG superstar has also set an all-time season record when he scored 50 goals in La Liga in 2011–12 and 91 goals in all competitions.
5. A record-breaker – Even in business
Lionel Messi’s 2021 move to Paris Saint-Germain came as a shock to the world of football and also to the PSG bank account. After the announcement of Messi and his new PSG shirt, the club sold more than one million shirts, and Messi’s own generated over 60% of the sales. The new increase in sales broke the record of player’s shirts sold in a year which was held by Cristiano Ronaldo during his return to Manchester United in August 2021.
