Lionel Messi
STRWCAM
Argentina39 years
Showing2026 seasonAll official competitions
Preferred Positions
Last 24 months · all competitions
ST
StrikerMain
4,305 min · 52 apps · 45 starts
RW
Right wing
1,987 min · 23 apps · 23 starts
CAM
Attacking midfield
1,108 min · 13 apps · 13 starts
Squad importance
Current squad importance over the club’s last 40 recorded competitive games in this spell, including previous seasons. Starts and minutes contribute 70%; performance contributes 30%. Absences reduce the score gradually, with less weight when a player is outside the matchday squad.Current role at Inter Miami · independent of the season filter
Star
Involvement89%
Performance86%
Through the match on 2 Nov 2026. Refreshed daily.
Profile
Career & playing style
Lionel Messi is an Argentine forward who combines scoring with creating chances for others. Quick exchanges of passes let him help build an attack and then finish it. His ability to change direction gives him room to use his left foot, even when defenders are close.
Born in Rosario on 24 June 1987, he played youth football for Newell’s Old Boys before joining Barcelona’s youth system in 2000. He progressed through the club’s teams and made his competitive first-team debut against Espanyol on 16 October 2004.
By the time he left Barcelona in 2021, Messi had scored 672 goals in 778 competitive appearances. His honours there included ten Spanish league titles and four Champions Leagues, with league, domestic cup and European Cup trebles in 2009 and 2015.
Under Pep Guardiola, he helped define the “false nine”: a central forward who drops towards midfield to receive the ball. That movement gave Barcelona an extra passing option in the middle of the pitch. Teammates could then run beyond him, allowing the attack to change shape without losing its connection to midfield.
After two seasons with Paris Saint-Germain, he moved to Inter Miami in 2023 and helped win that year’s Leagues Cup. In December 2025, he supplied two assists as Miami beat Vancouver 3–1 to claim the club’s first MLS Cup, earning the final’s Most Valuable Player award.
With Argentina, he won the Copa América in 2021 and again in 2024. Between those victories came the 2022 World Cup: Messi scored in every knockout round, including the final, and received the tournament’s Golden Ball. He had also won that individual award after Argentina’s run to the 2014 final.
His sixth World Cup, in 2026, ended with another final, this time a 1–0 defeat by Spain. On 31 August 2026, he announced his retirement from the national team in a letter published by the Argentine Football Association, then returned for a farewell friendly against Benin on 6 October, scoring a penalty in a 3–0 win.
Latest stats & form
Lionel Messi currently plays for Inter Miami as a forward. He has represented Argentina internationally.
