// The Seasons
From Rosario to the World
Six acts. Twenty-three years of magic. One napkin contract. One World Cup that changed everything.
1987 – 2004 · The Foundation
The Napkin Contract
A boy from Rosario who couldn't afford growth hormones. A club in Barcelona that could.
Born in Rosario, Argentina, Lionel Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency at age 10. He was 4'2" and his local club Newell's Old Boys couldn't afford the $900/month treatment. His father Jorge contacted FC Barcelona. Sporting director Carles Rexach watched 13-year-old Messi play and immediately offered a contract — written on a paper napkin at a Barcelona restaurant on December 14, 2000. The family moved to Spain. Messi was homesick, lonely, and tiny. He scored 37 goals in 30 games for Barcelona's youth teams. He made his first-team debut at 16 years, 145 days old on November 16, 2003 — the youngest player in club history.
The Napkin
December 14, 2000 · Barcelona
Carles Rexach watches a tiny 13-year-old Argentine dribble past an entire youth side. He grabs a napkin and writes: "In Barcelona, on the 14th of December of 2000, in the presence of... the FC Barcelona sporting director commits to sign the player Lionel Messi." The most valuable napkin in sports history.
The Growth Hormones
2000-2003 · Barcelona
Barcelona pays for Messi's growth hormone treatment. He injects himself in the leg every night for three years. He grows from 4'2" to 5'7". The physical transformation happens alongside the technical revolution. By the time he stops growing, he's already the best player at every level he plays.
First Team Debut
November 16, 2003 · Camp Nou
Frank Rijkaard puts a 16-year-old Messi on as a substitute against Porto in a friendly. He touches the ball seven times. He completes every pass. The crowd barely notices. Ronaldinho, watching from the bench, turns to a teammate and says: "Remember this kid's name."
Off the Pitch
The Messi family's move to Barcelona nearly failed. Lionel's mother Celia and siblings returned to Rosario after six months, homesick and struggling. Lionel stayed with his father Jorge. He was 13, alone in a foreign country, injecting growth hormones into his legs every night. The loneliness of those years shaped the quiet, introverted champion the world would come to know.
2004 – 2012 · The Ascent
The Best Player on Earth
He scored 73 goals in a single season. Then he scored 91 in a calendar year. Nobody had ever seen anything like it.
Messi's official debut came on October 16, 2004. His first goal came on May 1, 2005 — a lob over Albacete's keeper, set up by Ronaldinho. By 2009, he'd won his first Ballon d'Or at 22. Under Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, he became the centerpiece of the greatest club team ever assembled. Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi played a brand of football that resembled art. In 2011-12, he scored 73 goals in all competitions for Barcelona. In the 2012 calendar year, he scored 91 goals — breaking Gerd Muller's 40-year record. Four consecutive Ballon d'Ors. Two Champions Leagues. It was the most dominant individual stretch in football history.
Scene 16
filmed
vs. Man United — UCL Final
W 2-0
Rome
May 27, 2009 · Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Messi heads in Barcelona's second goal against Manchester United — a rare header from a 5'7" forward. Guardiola's tiki-taka reaches its apex. Barcelona win the treble: La Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League. Messi is 21 and already the best in the world.
1 goal
38 goals that season
Scene 22
filmed
vs. Man United — UCL Final
W 3-1
Wembley
May 28, 2011 · Wembley Stadium, London
Sir Alex Ferguson calls it the best performance he's ever seen from an opposing team. Messi scores the third goal — a curling shot from outside the box that leaves Edwin van der Sar frozen. Barcelona 3, Man United 1. Xavi, Iniesta, Messi. The holy trinity. The greatest club performance in Champions League final history.
91 Goals
December 9, 2012 · Camp Nou
A brace against Real Betis brings his calendar year total to 91 goals — shattering Gerd Muller's 1972 record of 85. Muller himself sends a congratulatory message. The number is so absurd it sounds fictional. Messi does it in 69 matches for club and country. Nobody before or since has come close.
2014 – 2016 · The Heartbreak
So Close, So Far
He won the treble with Barcelona. He lost three finals with Argentina. The crown was missing its jewel.
The 2014 World Cup in Brazil was supposed to be his coronation. Messi carried Argentina to the final, winning the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. They lost to Germany 1-0 in extra time — a Mario Gotze goal in the 113th minute. In 2015, he led Barcelona to a second treble (La Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League), scoring in the semifinal against Bayern Munich with one of the greatest individual goals ever seen. But Argentina lost the Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016, both on penalties. After the 2016 loss to Chile, Messi retired from international football. He was 29 and the burden of an entire nation's expectations was crushing him.
Scene 34
filmed
vs. Germany — World Cup Final
L 0-1 AET
The Maracana Final
July 13, 2014 · Maracana, Rio de Janeiro
113th minute. Gotze controls a cross on his chest and volleys past Romero. Germany 1, Argentina 0. The World Cup — the only trophy that matters for Messi's GOAT argument — slips away. He walks to collect the Golden Ball trophy. The look on his face is the loneliest image in football.
Scene 38
filmed
vs. Bayern Munich — UCL Semi
W 3-0
Boateng on the Floor
May 6, 2015 · Camp Nou
Messi receives the ball 30 yards out, feints right, sends Jerome Boateng to the ground, and chips Neuer. The photograph of Boateng on his backside becomes the defining image of Messi's genius. Barcelona win 3-0 en route to the treble. It might be the single greatest individual moment in Champions League history.
The Retirement
June 26, 2016
After losing the Copa America final to Chile on penalties — the third final loss in three years — Messi announces his retirement from international football. "It's not for me," he says. Argentina weeps. Murals appear across Buenos Aires begging him to stay. He reverses the decision six weeks later.
2017 – 2021 · The Transition
The Barcelona Goodbye
The club that raised him could no longer afford him. The cruelest breakup in football history.
Barcelona's finances collapsed. Despite Messi agreeing to a 50% pay cut, La Liga's salary cap rules prevented the club from registering his contract. On August 5, 2021, Barcelona announced Messi was leaving. He held a tearful press conference, crying before he could speak. Twenty-one years. 672 goals. 778 matches. The greatest player in the club's history was forced out by a spreadsheet. He joined Paris Saint-Germain, where he won Ligue 1 but never looked at home. But with Argentina, something was shifting. Copa America 2021 — a 1-0 final win over Brazil at the Maracana — gave Messi his first senior international trophy.
The Tears at Camp Nou
August 8, 2021 · Barcelona
Messi walks to the press conference podium. He tries to speak. He can't. He cries for a full minute before finding words. "I wasn't prepared for this," he says. His wife Antonela is crying in the audience. His children don't understand why they're leaving. 21 years, over. Not by choice.
Scene 52
filmed
vs. Brazil — Copa America Final
W 1-0
Copa America 2021
July 10, 2021 · Maracana, Rio de Janeiro
Angel Di Maria scores the only goal. Messi collapses on the pitch when the whistle blows. His teammates pile on top of him. He's won a major tournament with Argentina at the same stadium where the 2014 dream died. The Maracana, which broke his heart, now mends it.
2022 · The Crowning
Qatar
The greatest World Cup final ever played. The greatest player ever to play in it. The only trophy that mattered.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Messi's last chance. Argentina lost their opener to Saudi Arabia. Then Messi took over. Goals against Mexico, Australia, the Netherlands, Croatia. In the final against France, Messi scored twice — including the opening penalty — and Argentina led 3-2 in extra time. Kylian Mbappe scored a hat trick, forcing penalties. Argentina won the shootout 4-2. Messi lifted the trophy. He wore a bisht — an Arab ceremonial robe — over his Argentina jersey. The image of Messi holding the World Cup became the most-liked photograph in Instagram history. The debate was over.
Scene 62
filmed
vs. France — World Cup Final
W 4-2 Pens
The Greatest Final
December 18, 2022 · Lusail Stadium, Qatar
The greatest World Cup final in history. Argentina lead 2-0. Mbappe scores twice in 97 seconds to make it 2-2. Messi scores in extra time. Mbappe equalizes again — hat trick. Penalties. Gonzalo Montiel converts the winner. Messi drops to his knees. The trophy is his.
The Bisht
December 18, 2022 · Lusail Stadium
The Emir of Qatar places a bisht over Messi's shoulders before he lifts the trophy. The image — Messi in the black and gold robe, hoisting the World Cup — becomes the most-liked Instagram post in history with 75 million likes. It's the coronation the football world spent 16 years waiting for.
2023 – Present · The Victory Lap
Inter Miami
He came to Miami. He won the Leagues Cup in his debut month. He's 37 and still magic.
Messi joined Inter Miami CF in July 2023, choosing MLS over a return to Barcelona or a lucrative Saudi Pro League offer. He scored in his debut against Cruz Azul, then led Miami to the Leagues Cup title in his first month — scoring 10 goals in 7 matches. He won a record eighth Ballon d'Or in October 2023. At 37, he's playing in front of sold-out crowds across America, introducing football to a new audience, and enjoying the game with a freedom he hasn't shown since his Barcelona peak.
The Miami Debut
July 21, 2023 · DRV PNK Stadium
Last-minute free kick. Curled over the wall. Into the top corner. Messi's Inter Miami debut ends with a 94th-minute winner against Cruz Azul. The stadium erupts. David Beckham, sitting in the stands, looks like he can't believe what he's built. The Messi effect has arrived in America.