Lionel_Messi

Lionel Messi – International Career and Achievements

An Argentine international, Messi is the national team's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player. Known for his playing style as a slender, left-footed dribbler, his career-long comparisons have been drawn with fellow Argentine Diego Maradona, who described Messi as his successor. At the youth level, he won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship and a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

After making his senior debut in 2005, Messi became the youngest Argentine to play and score in a World Cup in 2006. He took over the captaincy in 2011 and led Argentina to the finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2015 Copa América, and subsequent editions of the Copa América, though they were defeated each time. Initially announcing his international retirement in 2016, he returned to help his country qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where Argentina made an early exit.

Messi and the national team finally ended Argentina's 28-year trophy drought by winning the 2021 Copa América, which helped him secure his seventh Ballon d'Or that year. He then led Argentina to win the 2022 Finalissima and the 2022 FIFA World Cup, marking the nation's third overall world championship and the first in 36 years. This was followed by his record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or in 2023 and a win at the 2024 Copa América.

Since 2006, Messi has been endorsed by sportswear company Adidas. According to France Football, he was the world's highest-paid footballer in five out of six years between 2009 and 2014. In 2019, Forbes named him the world's highest-paid athlete. He was included in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in 2011, 2012, and 2023.

In 2020 and 2023, he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, becoming the first team-sport athlete to win the award. In 2020, Messi was included in the Ballon d'Or Dream Team and became the second footballer and second team-sport athlete to surpass $1 billion in career earnings. Following his arrival and impact on soccer in the United States, Messi was named Time’s Athlete of the Year in 2023 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by a decision of the U.S. President in 2025.

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