100 Things to Know About Lionel Messi: The Complete Tribute to Football’s GOAT

ROSARIO, Argentina, October 8, 2026: Lionel Messi’s Argentina story is finally complete. His football story is not.

Two days ago, the Estadio Monumental gave Argentina’s No. 10 the goodbye that neither a World Cup final in New Jersey nor a handwritten retirement announcement could provide. Messi scored his 126th international goal, created the other two against Benin, embraced the teammates and family members around him and walked away from the national team after 208 appearances across 21 years.

He leaves Argentina as a World Cup winner, two-time Copa América champion, Olympic gold medalist, Finalissima winner, national record scorer and appearance holder. He also leaves behind one of the strangest international careers any great player has lived: adored, doubted, blamed, briefly retired, welcomed back, finally crowned and ultimately mourned before he had even stopped playing club football.

That is only one part of the Lionel Messi story.

TSE VISUAL BRIEFING

Story at a glance

01

21-30: The Barcelona Peak and Records That Still Look Unreal

Barcelona’s own historical profile remains one of the best primary references for those numbers and records: FC Barcelona’s official Lionel Messi profile.

02

41-50: Argentina Before the Trophies

The years of frustration make the later triumphs much more meaningful. TSE revisited that entire arc when Messi announced the end of his Argentina career after the 2026 World Cup.

03

61-70: The 2026 World Cup and the Final Argentina Goodbye

That farewell had been planned specifically to give home supporters closure. TSE explained why the Monumental mattered before Messi’s last Argentina appearance.

04

81-90: Messi’s Miami Records, Great Partnerships and Global Reach

Inter Miami’s own milestone record provides the most current club checkpoint: Messi’s 100 Inter Miami goals in 115 appearances.

05

Why Lionel Messi’s GOAT Case Is So Difficult to Replicate

Most legendary players dominate one argument.

Barcelona gave him the platform on which he became the most decorated individual player of his generation. Paris gave him a difficult transition away from the only European club he had truly known. Miami gave him another football culture to influence, another club to transform and another set of records to chase well into his late 30s.

The Sports Encounter has already examined whether Messi belongs not only in football’s GOAT conversation but among the greatest athletes in any sport. This Tribute to the Heroes feature asks a different question.

What should someone actually know to understand Lionel Messi?

Lionel Messi at a Glance

100 Things Every Lionel Messi Fan Should Know

1-10: Rosario, Family and the Boy Before the Legend

1. His full name is Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini. Football reduced one of the most famous names in sport to four letters: Messi. But the complete name belongs to a boy born far from Barcelona, Paris and Miami.
2. Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario. Rosario is Argentina’s third-largest city and remains fundamental to how Messi understands home, family and identity.
3. Football entered his life almost immediately. He played locally as a small child before joining the youth system of Newell’s Old Boys, one of Rosario’s two major professional clubs.
4. Newell’s was the first major football institution to see what he could become. Long before Barcelona scouts, Ballon d’Or ceremonies and World Cups, Messi was an unusually productive youth player in red and black.
5. His grandmother Celia became part of his football identity. Messi has long pointed both index fingers toward the sky after scoring, a gesture associated with the grandmother who encouraged his football before her death.
6. Messi’s childhood contained a serious medical obstacle. He was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency, creating treatment costs his family could not comfortably carry indefinitely.
7. Barcelona changed the medical as well as football equation. The Catalan club agreed to support the treatment after becoming convinced that the tiny Argentine boy possessed extraordinary talent.
8. He moved from Rosario to Barcelona at 13. The move was not glamorous. It meant leaving relatives, friends, familiar football and Argentina while still a child.
9. The famous “napkin agreement” became part of Messi mythology. Barcelona sporting figure Carles Rexach famously formalized the club’s commitment to the youngster on a paper napkin when negotiations appeared in danger of stalling.
10. His family remained central when fame arrived. Messi married Rosario childhood acquaintance Antonela Roccuzzo in 2017, and they have three sons, Thiago, Mateo and Ciro.

11-20: How Barcelona Built the Messi We Came to Know

11. Barcelona did not instantly place him in the first team. Messi progressed through the youth structure, adapting physically and culturally while his talent increasingly separated him from players his age.
12. His first-team story technically began before his competitive debut. He appeared in a friendly against Porto on November 16, 2003, while still only 16.
13. His official Barcelona debut came against Espanyol. Frank Rijkaard introduced the 17-year-old in October 2004, beginning one of the most consequential player-club relationships football has seen.
14. Ronaldinho assisted Messi’s first official Barcelona goal. Against Albacete in May 2005, the Brazilian lifted a pass behind the defense and Messi lobbed the goalkeeper. An earlier near-identical finish had been ruled out.
15. Before No. 10, Messi wore Nos. 30 and 19. The jersey that would later become inseparable from his identity did not become his until Ronaldinho left Barcelona in 2008.
16. His first Champions League winner’s medal came in 2006. Injury prevented Messi from playing in the final against Arsenal, so the triumph belonged more to the beginning of his rise than the fully formed superstar years.
17. The Getafe goal in 2007 accelerated the Maradona comparisons. Messi collected the ball deep, beat defender after defender and finished a run that instantly recalled Diego Maradona’s famous 1986 goal against England.
18. Pep Guardiola’s arrival changed Messi tactically. Guardiola increasingly moved him from the wing toward central spaces where defenders struggled to decide whether to follow him or protect the area behind them.
19. The false nine became one of his defining roles. Messi would drop away from the center-backs, receive between midfield and defense and then attack a back line whose structure had already been disturbed.
20. Barcelona’s 2008-09 treble announced the new order. La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League arrived in Guardiola’s first season, with Messi emerging as the central attacking figure.

21-30: The Barcelona Peak and Records That Still Look Unreal

21. Barcelona completed a six-trophy year in 2009. The Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup followed the treble, creating the famous sextuple.
22. The 2011 Champions League final remains one of the clearest demonstrations of peak Messi. Barcelona overwhelmed Manchester United at Wembley, and Messi scored from outside the area in a performance that captured the superiority of Guardiola’s side.
23. He scored 73 official club goals in 2011-12. Barcelona lists it as the most prolific single season of his club career.
24. Fifty of those goals came in La Liga. His 50-goal league season remains one of the most extreme scoring campaigns in elite European football.
25. Then came 91 goals in 2012. Messi scored 79 for Barcelona and 12 for Argentina during the calendar year, breaking Gerd Müller’s longstanding mark of 85.
26. He scored in 21 consecutive La Liga games. The streak stretched through the 2012-13 season and demonstrated that Messi’s scoring was not based on brief hot runs.
27. Messi remains La Liga’s all-time leading scorer. His Barcelona league total finished at 474 goals in 520 appearances.
28. He scored 672 official goals for Barcelona. That is the club record and one of football’s great one-club scoring totals.
29. He made 778 official Barcelona appearances. Barcelona also credits him with a club-record 305 assists.
30. He won 35 trophies with Barcelona. The collection includes 10 La Liga titles, seven Copas del Rey, eight Spanish Super Cups, four Champions Leagues, three Club World Cups and three UEFA Super Cups.

Barcelona’s own historical profile remains one of the best primary references for those numbers and records: FC Barcelona’s official Lionel Messi profile.

31-40: Awards, Skills and What Actually Made Messi Different

31. Messi has won a record eight Ballon d’Or awards. They came in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023.
32. He also owns six European Golden Shoes. The award recognizes the highest league scorer across Europe’s top divisions.
33. He won eight Pichichi trophies as La Liga’s leading scorer. Nobody has won more.
34. Messi scored 120 Champions League goals for Barcelona. His European production formed a major part of the club’s most successful era.
35. His left foot is the obvious weapon, but reducing Messi to a left-footed scorer misses most of the player. He has scored chips, headers, right-footed finishes, penalties, volleys and goals after intricate combination play.
36. His dribbling depended more on balance and timing than tricks. Messi rarely needed extended stepovers. A shoulder movement, tiny touch or sudden acceleration was usually enough.
37. His low center of gravity was a competitive advantage. At roughly 1.70 meters tall, he could change direction while maintaining control at speeds that forced taller defenders to reset their feet.
38. One of Messi’s least glamorous superpowers is scanning. He often walks while watching the shape of the game, collecting information before suddenly accelerating into the space he has already identified.
39. He became an all-time playmaker as well as scorer. Through-balls, disguised passes, cutbacks, chipped assists and switches of play allowed him to control matches even when opponents prevented him from shooting.
40. His free-kick development came relatively late. What was once merely another useful part of his game became one of football’s most feared set-piece weapons during the second half of his Barcelona career.

41-50: Argentina Before the Trophies

41. Messi was already an Argentina world champion before his senior breakthrough. He starred as Argentina won the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
42. His senior Argentina debut could hardly have gone worse. Against Hungary in August 2005, the substitute was sent off around 90 seconds after entering the game.
43. His first senior World Cup arrived in 2006. Still a teenager, he scored against Serbia and Montenegro and became part of Argentina’s next generation.
44. Messi won Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008. That tournament is sometimes lost between club achievements and senior international trophies, but it mattered enormously to his early Argentina career.
45. The 2014 World Cup transformed the pressure around him. Messi carried Argentina into the final, where Germany won 1-0 after extra time.
46. He won the 2014 World Cup Golden Ball despite losing the final. The award recognized him as the tournament’s outstanding player, although receiving it minutes after defeat created one of the saddest images of his career.
47. Argentina then lost the 2015 Copa América final to Chile. The criticism around Messi’s national-team performances grew despite Argentina repeatedly reaching major finals.
48. The 2016 Copa América Centenario defeat almost broke the relationship. Argentina lost another final to Chile on penalties, Messi missed his kick and announced that his national-team career was over.
49. He returned. The retirement lasted only weeks, but it exposed how deeply repeated Argentina failures had affected him.
50. The drought finally ended at the 2021 Copa América. Argentina beat Brazil at the Maracanã, giving Messi his first major senior international title and fundamentally changing the emotional story of his national career.

The years of frustration make the later triumphs much more meaningful. TSE revisited that entire arc when Messi announced the end of his Argentina career after the 2026 World Cup.

51-60: When Argentina Finally Became Messi’s Team of Champions

51. The 2021 Copa América win did more than deliver a trophy. It removed the argument that Messi could reproduce greatness only in Barcelona colors.
52. Argentina followed with the 2022 Finalissima. Messi and his teammates beat European champions Italy at Wembley.
53. The 2022 World Cup started disastrously. Saudi Arabia stunned Argentina 2-1, leaving the eventual champions in immediate danger.
54. Messi’s goal against Mexico changed the tournament. With Argentina struggling to break through, he scored from outside the area and released much of the pressure around the team.
55. The quarterfinal against the Netherlands became one of his most emotional international matches. Messi scored, assisted and celebrated provocatively toward Louis van Gaal’s bench before Argentina survived penalties.
56. His assist against Croatia became an instant classic. Messi repeatedly turned Josko Gvardiol near the touchline before setting up Julián Álvarez in the semifinal.
57. The 2022 final against France delivered the trophy that had escaped him. Messi scored twice in a 3-3 draw and converted in the shootout as Argentina became world champions.
58. Messi won the World Cup Golden Ball again. He remains the only man to win the tournament’s top-player award twice, in 2014 and 2022.
59. Argentina defended the Copa América in 2024. That gave Messi two Copa América titles within four years after spending much of his career being told he could not win with the national team.
60. By then, Messi no longer needed the World Cup to validate his greatness. Instead, every later international appearance became an extension of a story whose biggest unanswered question had already been resolved.

61-70: The 2026 World Cup and the Final Argentina Goodbye

61. Messi became the first man to appear at six FIFA World Cups. He played in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026.
62. He finished with a men’s World Cup record 34 appearances. The 2026 final against Spain extended a record he had already taken beyond every previous men’s player.
63. His final World Cup goal total was 21. Messi became the tournament’s all-time leading scorer during the 2026 competition, but Kylian Mbappé eventually moved past him and finished on 22.
64. Messi scored eight goals at the 2026 World Cup. At 39, he finished second in the Golden Boot race behind Mbappé’s 10.
65. He also contributed four assists during Argentina’s run. His late-career influence increasingly mixed scoring with game management and chance creation.
66. The semifinal against England showed that perfectly. Argentina trailed until the closing stages before Messi created both goals in a 2-1 comeback. TSE reconstructed how his two assists destroyed England’s late defensive retreat.
67. Messi had already survived another near-disaster against Egypt. After missing a penalty, he scored during Argentina’s remarkable late comeback in the Round of 16. The match became one of the defining survival stories of Argentina’s title defense.
68. Spain denied him a second World Cup. Ferran Torres scored in extra time as Argentina lost the 2026 final 1-0. TSE’s final report explains how Spain controlled the match despite Argentina’s resistance.
69. Messi announced his international retirement on August 31. The decision closed his competitive Argentina career before his country organized one final ceremonial match.
70. October 6 gave him the goodbye Buenos Aires needed. Messi scored from the penalty spot and assisted Nicolás Otamendi and Nico Paz as Argentina beat Benin 3-0 at the Monumental. His final senior totals: 208 appearances, 126 goals and 70 assists.

That farewell had been planned specifically to give home supporters closure. TSE explained why the Monumental mattered before Messi’s last Argentina appearance.

FIFA’s official retrospective now provides the definitive international totals and major landmarks: FIFA’s Lionel Messi Argentina tribute.

71-80: Paris, Miami and the Career After Barcelona

71. Messi never intended his Barcelona story to end the way it did. In 2021, financial constraints and La Liga registration rules prevented the club from keeping him under the structure it had negotiated.
72. The goodbye press conference was raw. Messi cried before he had properly begun speaking, an image that made clear this was not a conventional transfer.
73. Paris Saint-Germain became the first senior club outside Barcelona he represented. He spent two seasons in France and won consecutive Ligue 1 titles plus the Trophée des Champions.
74. PSG never felt as emotionally natural as Barcelona. Messi still produced goals and assists, but Champions League failures and sections of the Paris support created a difficult final phase.
75. Inter Miami changed the atmosphere again. Messi joined Major League Soccer in the summer of 2023 and immediately became the most consequential signing in league history.
76. His first Miami trophy arrived almost immediately. Inter Miami won the 2023 Leagues Cup, the first major trophy in club history.
77. The 2024 Supporters’ Shield followed. Miami collected 74 regular-season points, then an MLS record, as Messi’s presence moved the club from curiosity to genuine contender.
78. He won the MLS MVP award in 2024 and again in 2025. The second made him the first player in league history to win consecutive Landon Donovan MLS MVP awards.
79. His 2025 season included 29 MLS goals and 19 assists. Those 48 regular-season goal contributions brought the Golden Boot and underlined how little his attacking production had declined.
80. Inter Miami won the 2025 MLS Cup. Messi captained the club to its first league championship after previously winning the Eastern Conference title.

81-90: Messi’s Miami Records, Great Partnerships and Global Reach

81. Messi helped Miami make history against European opposition. His free kick contributed to a 2025 Club World Cup victory over Porto, the first competitive win by a Concacaf club over European opposition in that competition.
82. He reached 100 Inter Miami goals in September 2026. Messi needed 115 appearances across all competitions to become the first player in club history to reach the century.
83. The 100th goal came in another final. He scored against Cruz Azul as Inter Miami won the 2026 Campeones Cup, the fifth title of the Messi era.
84. He remained highly productive in MLS at 39. Through early October 2026, league data listed him with 21 goals and 13 assists in 24 regular-season appearances.
85. Ronaldinho was one of his first superstar mentors. Their relationship symbolizes the transition from one Barcelona era to the next.
86. Xavi and Andrés Iniesta gave Messi one of football’s greatest technical ecosystems. Their passing, movement and control helped create the Barcelona side that dominated Europe under Guardiola.
87. Neymar and Luis Suárez created the MSN front three. At its peak, the trio mixed individual brilliance with an unusual lack of visible ego and drove Barcelona to the 2015 treble.
88. Luis Suárez became far more than a teammate. Their friendship continued beyond Barcelona and eventually reunited them in Miami.
89. The Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry defined an era. For more than a decade, Messi and Ronaldo pushed scoring records, Ballon d’Or totals, Champions League expectations and the GOAT debate to levels football had never sustained between two active players.
90. Messi’s No. 10 became a global visual language. Barcelona stripes, Argentina’s sky blue and white, and later Miami pink all carried a number already associated with Maradona, Pelé and football’s traditional creators.

Inter Miami’s own milestone record provides the most current club checkpoint: Messi’s 100 Inter Miami goals in 115 appearances.

91-100: The Human Story, the Difficult Parts and Why the GOAT Debate Will Never End

91. Messi’s personality has always contrasted with his fame. He became one of the world’s most recognizable people without developing the public style normally associated with celebrity athletes.
92. Captaincy forced him to change. The quiet youngster who once stood behind stronger dressing-room voices eventually became the emotional reference point of Argentina’s most successful modern generation.
93. Sergio Agüero was one of the defining friendships of his Argentina life. They met as teenagers, shared rooms on international duty and remained close long after Agüero’s playing career ended.
94. His career has not been controversy-free. In 2016, a Spanish court convicted Messi and his father in a tax-fraud case involving image-rights income. Messi received a custodial sentence that was suspended under Spanish law.
95. Paris produced another difficult episode. PSG suspended Messi briefly in 2023 following an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia. He apologized publicly before returning.
96. His father Jorge was a foundational figure throughout the journey. He helped move the family to Barcelona, later became deeply involved in Messi’s professional affairs and remained one of his closest advisers. Jorge’s death in August 2026 came only weeks after Lionel’s final World Cup. TSE’s tribute examined the father behind the football journey.
97. Messi has passed 900 senior career goals. He crossed that enormous threshold in 2026 and continued adding goals for both Miami and Argentina afterward.
98. His influence extends beyond football. Messi has served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2010 and created the Leo Messi Foundation to support children’s health and development.
99. The GOAT verdict is still subjective. Pelé has the historical World Cup legacy. Maradona produced perhaps the sport’s most mythologized individual tournament in 1986. Ronaldo owns an extraordinary scoring and longevity case. Messi’s argument rests on combining elite scoring, elite creation, dribbling, club dominance, longevity, individual awards and a World Cup.
100. And the final fact is that the story is not finished. Messi has retired from Argentina, but not from football. At 39, he remains captain of Inter Miami. The international ending is known. The final club chapter still has pages left.

Why Lionel Messi’s GOAT Case Is So Difficult to Replicate

Most legendary players dominate one argument.

Some are the greatest scorers. Others are the finest passers, dribblers, tournament players, trophy collectors or longevity cases.

Messi is unusual because his résumé keeps appearing near the top of several categories simultaneously.

That breadth is why the argument survives even after Messi has already won almost everything available to him.

Our detailed analysis of the 2026 World Cup scoring race showed that he remained an elite tournament scorer at 39. The fan-voted World Cup Dream Team also placed him among the tournament’s defining players.

The World Cup Record Needs One Important 2026 Clarification

Messi did become the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer during the 2026 tournament when he moved beyond Miroslav Klose.

He did not finish the tournament holding that record.

Messi’s final World Cup total stands at 21 goals. Kylian Mbappé scored 10 times during the 2026 tournament and moved to 22 career World Cup goals by the end of France’s campaign.

That distinction matters in an article designed to remain useful for years rather than freeze the record table in the middle of a tournament.

Messi does retain the men’s record for World Cup appearances with 34.

From Heartbreak to Closure: Why Argentina Changed Messi’s Legacy

The easiest mistake when looking backward is to treat Argentina’s later success as inevitable.

It was anything but.

Messi lived through the 2014 World Cup final defeat, consecutive Copa América final losses, accusations that he cared more about Barcelona than Argentina, a temporary international retirement and repeated comparisons with Maradona.

Then the sequence reversed.

Copa América 2021.

Finalissima 2022.

World Cup 2022.

Copa América 2024.

Another World Cup final at 39 in 2026.

A farewell at the Monumental in which he directly contributed to all three Argentina goals.

That full emotional arc is why Messi’s departure became part of a wider goodbye to the generation that defined modern international football.

Messi’s Most Important Career Numbers

The Messi Moments Every Fan Should Watch at Least Once

• His first Barcelona goal against Albacete.
• The Maradona-style run against Getafe in 2007.
• The header against Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final.
• The four-goal Champions League destruction of Arsenal in 2010.
• The solo Champions League semifinal goal against Real Madrid in 2011.
• His Wembley performance against Manchester United in the 2011 final.
• The 91-goal calendar year of 2012.
• The humiliation of Jérôme Boateng before scoring against Bayern Munich in 2015.
• Holding his Barcelona shirt toward the Bernabéu crowd after his late Clásico winner in 2017.
• The free kick against Liverpool in 2019.
• The Copa América celebration at the Maracanã in 2021.
• The goal against Mexico at Qatar 2022.
• His dribble past Gvardiol before assisting Álvarez in the 2022 semifinal.
• Lifting the World Cup at Lusail.
• His Inter Miami debut free-kick winner in 2023.
• The 2026 World Cup hat trick against Algeria.
• The two assists that completed Argentina’s late semifinal comeback against England.
• His October 2026 farewell goal and two assists against Benin.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Lionel Messi

How Old Is Lionel Messi?

Messi was born on June 24, 1987 and is 39 years old as of October 2026.

Where Was Lionel Messi Born?

He was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina.

How Many Ballon d’Or Awards Has Messi Won?

Messi has won eight Ballon d’Or awards, the most in the history of the award.

How Many Goals Did Messi Score for Barcelona?

He scored 672 goals in 778 official appearances for Barcelona.

How Many Goals Did Messi Score for Argentina?

Messi finished his senior Argentina career with 126 goals in 208 appearances.

How Many Assists Did Messi Have for Argentina?

FIFA credits Messi with 70 senior international assists at the end of his Argentina career.

How Many World Cups Did Messi Play?

He appeared at six FIFA World Cups from 2006 through 2026.

How Many World Cup Goals Did Messi Score?

Messi scored 21 World Cup goals. He briefly held the all-time men’s scoring record during the 2026 tournament before Kylian Mbappé finished the competition with 22 career World Cup goals.

Did Messi Win the World Cup?

Yes. Messi captained Argentina to the 2022 FIFA World Cup title in Qatar.

How Many Copa América Titles Did Messi Win?

He won the Copa América in 2021 and 2024.

Why Did Messi Leave Barcelona?

Barcelona’s financial situation and La Liga registration rules prevented the club from registering the contract structure required to keep him in 2021.

How Many Goals Has Messi Scored for Inter Miami?

Messi became the first Inter Miami player to reach 100 goals, hitting the mark in his 115th appearance in September 2026. His total has continued to grow since then.

Is Messi Still Playing Football?

Yes. He has retired from international football but remains an active Inter Miami player.

Who Is Lionel Messi Married To?

Messi is married to Antonela Roccuzzo, whom he knew from Rosario long before his football fame. They married in 2017.

How Many Children Does Messi Have?

Messi and Antonela have three sons: Thiago, Mateo and Ciro.

Why Does Messi Point to the Sky After Scoring?

The celebration is associated with his late grandmother Celia, one of the family members who encouraged his football as a child.

What Is Messi’s Nickname?

One of his best-known nicknames is La Pulga, or “The Flea,” referring to his small frame and extraordinary movement.

Is Messi the Greatest Footballer Ever?

There is no objective formula capable of settling the question permanently. Messi’s combination of scoring, playmaking, individual awards, club success, international trophies, World Cup performances and longevity gives him one of the strongest GOAT cases football has produced.

A Tribute to the Hero Who Made the Impossible Look Routine

There is a danger in discussing Lionel Messi through statistics.

Eventually, 672 becomes a number.

Eight Ballon d’Or awards become a line on a résumé.

Ninety-one goals become trivia.

Twenty-one World Cup goals become another record for somebody else to chase.

That is not how people experienced Messi.

They experienced him through seconds.

The moment a defender leaned the wrong way.

The instant a free kick cleared the wall.

The pause before a pass nobody else in the stadium had seen.

The acceleration after several minutes of apparently walking.

The little left-foot touch that moved the ball two inches and moved an entire defense six feet.

The shirt held toward the Bernabéu.

The tears after Copa América defeat.

The tears after Copa América victory.

The hands on the World Cup.

The family beside him at the Monumental when Argentina finally said goodbye.

Statistics help us remember how extraordinary the career was.

They cannot reproduce what it felt like to watch it happen.

That may be the strongest argument for Messi’s place in football history.

A generation did not merely know that Lionel Messi was great.

It arranged weekends around seeing what he might do next.