Marca America Award | Special report on MARCA.com

LEO MESSI

Leo Messi becomes the main protagonist of the tribute that MARCA has prepared in Miami for the Argentine ace. A career like his deserves special recognition, like the award that MARCA is going to present to Messi, the best among the best, the number 1 among the number 1s. The 46 titles that the Rosario native has accumulated since turning professional are a record in the history of world football. And this award from our newspaper only confirms that we are not only facing a legend, but the greatest.

His arrival at Inter Miami has revolutionized the MLS. Since it was confirmed that Leo was leaving PSG to David Beckham's team, the boost that the American league has received has been massive. His mere presence has multiplied interest in the competition. Moreover, Messi continues to display his mastery in every match: goals, assists... A pure spectacle in every game. Leo's career is still very much alive.

Messi will always be ed as a Barcelona player. So many years wearing the Blaugrana shirt, so many goals and so many titles have left an indelible legacy at Camp Nou. That's where it all began, and from his debut in 2004 against Espanyol until now, we have not stopped witnessing demonstrations from a footballer for the ages.

And if we talk about legacy, what better memory than that of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where he led Argentina to win their third World Cup, after those of 1978 and 1986. It has been the crowning achievement of his career so far, the trophy he had longed for so much. But let's not forget that last summer he also lifted the Copa America with Argentina. Earlier this month he even won the MLS er's Shield with Inter Miami. For all this and more, he is number 1. He is Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini.

The player with the most titles in football history

The number 1 among the number 1s

A change in FC Barcelona, the number 20 jersey is retired, Deco leaves the field and the number 30 jersey, Messi, steps onto the pitch." No one could have imagined that those words, spoken by the stadium announcer of RCD Espanyol on October 16, 2004, would change the history of world football. Leo Messi (Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini to be exact) made his official debut with the Barcelona jersey on matchday 7 of LaLiga 2004-05. It was the 82nd minute of a derby that his club ended up winning 0-1, precisely with a goal from Deco. Messi (Rosario, June 24, 1987) didn't score that day, which almost surprises, seen now with the perspective of two decades of successes, goals, victories, titles, and accolades. It is true that Messi had debuted with Barça almost a year earlier, on November 16, 2003, in a friendly match in Porto (Portugal). It was the prelude to a career that has led him to be number 1 among the number 1s, the player with the most titles in the history of football (46), suring his former teammate Dani Alves by two, Andrés Iniesta and Maxwell by seven, Piqué by eight, and Cristiano Ronaldo by nine, with whom he has had a historic rivalry with the shirts of Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.

In that list of top world players with the most titles, other historical names such as Ryan Giggs (34), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (34), Karim Benzema (34), David Alaba (34), Xavi Hernández (33) and Thomas Müller (33), some of them still active and therefore with possibilities of further enlarging their legend.

To achieve these unsured achievements, at just 13 years old, young Leo, accompanied by his father Jorge, decided to leave his native Argentina for Barcelona. There, Josep María Minguella, a player representative linked to the Blaugrana club, was determined to convince the Catalan team of the need to sign that boy, small, fragile, but with a lot of football in his veins. And he succeeded. Along the way, and until reaching his 46th title, the 2024 MLS er's Shield with the Inter Miami jersey, 1 World Cup, 1 Copa America, 1 Conmebol-UEFA, 1 Olympic gold medal, 12 Leagues, 7 Cups, 4 Champions Leagues, 3 Club World Cups, 3 UEFA Super Cups, 9 Super Cups, 1 Leagues Cup and 1 U20 World Cup. Impressive.

The jerseys of Barcelona (2004-2021), Paris Saint Germain (2021-2023), Inter Miami (since 2023), and the Argentine national team (since 2005) have had the privilege of being worn by Leo Messi. They are his four professional teams, in which he has imparted his mastery. His story is full of successes, but it's not over yet. On the horizon, the MLS and the 2026 World Cup, which could be the icing on an unforgettable career.

Such a collection of collective titles has been accompanied by an incredible succession of individual achievements: 8 Ballon d'Or awards, 6 Golden Boots, 8 times LaLiga top scorer, 6 times top scorer of the Champions League, 2 times Copa America Golden Ball, 1 FIFA World Player, 2 UEFA Best Player awards, 3 The Best awards, LaLiga's all-time top scorer with 473 goals in 520 matches, Argentina's all-time top scorer (109 goals in 187 matches), player with the most appearances in a World Cup (26)...

Individual and collective awards

At the big 6 table

The Olympus of world football features legends who are no longer with us (Pelé, Di Stefano, Johan Cruyff, or Diego Armando Maradona) and others who continue to demonstrate their mastery with a ball (Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo). They all have an incredible list of achievements, they have all offered unforgettable matches, but Messi has won more than anyone else. That's why he has the honor of being recognized as the number 1 among the number 1s.

The numbers of goals per season show records inappropriate for a human being

Don't say gol, say Messi

Goal by Messi, goal by Messi, goal by Messi, goal by Messi... hundreds and hundreds of times. A phrase repeated by radio and television commentators, fans, teammates, rivals, by the football world in general. Leo has many virtues with the ball at his feet: dribbling, vision of the game, leadership, etc., but his scoring ability is brutal. It's been 21 seasons at the top level so far, 17 at Barcelona, two at PSG, and two at Inter Miami, plus all his international matches with Argentina.

In all of them, he has shown an almost inhuman ability to score goals. 671 goals with Barcelona (with an incredible average of 0.86 goals after 778 matches), 32 goals with PSG in 75 matches, 109 with Argentina in 187 matches, and currently 21 with Inter Miami in his MLS journey... Mostly with his left foot, but also with his right, with his head, from penalties, from direct free kicks, even with his hand if necessary... Messi's scoring catalog is endless, and fortunately, it seems like it will remain so.

Leo's goal numbers per season show 'uncharacteristic' records for a human being, like the 82 goals in 69 matches with Barcelona in the 2011-12 season, leaving an average of 1.18 goals per match, something irrational in the history of modern football.

Since his goal-scoring explosion in 2008-09, with 41 goals in 60 matches (coming from scoring 21 in each of the two previous seasons), his records have been monumental year after year: 48, 57, 82, 68, 48, 62, 50, 57, 52, 54, 33, and 44 in the season of his farewell with the Barcelona shirt, the 2020-21 season. At Camp Nou, he has left a legacy of 671 goals, to which he has added 268 assists.

The change of shirt (PSG and Inter Miami) has shown another Messi, with a different style of football and other skills, but also with notable scoring figures, close to fifty goals. And the addition of his beloved national team, the Albiceleste. 109 goals crowned with his masterpiece at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the pinnacle of his career, the title he was missing and that definitively crowned him as the best.

GOALS IN ALMOST ALL FINALS

Messi has had the privilege of scoring in almost all the finals of all the major tournaments he has played in. He scored two with Argentina in the unforgettable final of the 2022 World Cup against the Netherlands, which served to erase the memory of the 2014 final in Brazil lost 1-0 to . With Barcelona, he scored 32 goals in the finals of all the tournaments he played with the blaugrana shirt: Club World Cup, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Copa del Rey, and Spanish Super Cup. When he changed Barcelona for Paris, he also scored in a final: the 2022 French Super Cup against Nantes. With Inter Miami, he scored in the final of the Leagues Cup, a goal during the match against Nashville, plus another in the shootout that gave his team the title. So far, he has yet to score in a Copa America final, as he has not succeeded in the five finals he has played with Argentina to date.

But Leo is much more than a goal scorer; he is the total footballer, the one who wins games by himself, with his goals, with his assists, with his leadership for his teammates, with his mere presence on the field creating panic among rivals...

Goals for his club by season

Goals by competition

How he scored the goals

Braces, hat tricks, pokers, gluts

The World Cup, the only major title missing from his endless record of achievements

2022: The most desired World Cup

Messi's spectacular career hasn't been easy, because it isn't for a superstar like the Rosario native or any other professional footballer. Reaching the top is hard, but staying there year after year is even harder. However, if there's something that was particularly challenging for Leo, it was achieving glory with the Argentina jersey. And he did it, of course he did.

On December 18, 2002, we witnessed one of the best World Cup finals of all time. Argentina and the Netherlands, the Netherlands of all time, starred in a duel that still lingers in the memory of football lovers. 2-2 at the end of the first ninety minutes, 3-3 at the end of extra time, and 4-2 for Argentina after the penalty shootout. Finally, Leo Messi was crowned world champion with the Albiceleste, the only major title missing from his endless list of achievements. Needless to say, Messi was decisive in that final, scoring two goals plus another in the penalty shootout. World Cup MVP and the finishing touch to a championship for the ages, in which he broke the record for the player with the most appearances in a World Cup with 26, after participating in five editions.

But to reach that pinnacle, Leo hasn't exactly had an easy journey. The heavy burden of being the heir to the great legend of Argentine football, Diego Armando Maradona, has always accompanied him. Until finally, just as El Pelusa did in Mexico 1986, Messi led Argentina to conquer the coveted World Cup.

A tournament in which he had previously participated in four other editions, with an elimination in the round of 16 (2018), two in the quarterfinals (2006 and 2010), and a lost final (2014 against ). The World Cup seemed cursed for Leo, but in Qatar, he achieved his dream, lifting the Jules Rimet Cup with the Argentina jersey. Additionally, scoring seven goals to contribute more than anyone else to Lionel Scaloni's team's victory.

06.Goals with the Argentina National Team

DEBUT... AND RED CARD

In August 2005, the young pearl of FC Barcelona made his debut with the national team in a friendly match against Hungary in Budapest. It was a preparation match for the 2006 World Cup in . José Pekerman, the Argentine coach, brought him on in the 63rd minute, replacing Lisandro López. Leo wore the number 18... and in less than a minute, he was back on the bench after receiving a straight red card for a slap on an opponent.

An action that the current captain of the Albiceleste hasn't forgotten: "I was only 18 and thought I would never return to the national team. Many things go through your head," he commented in an interview on TyC Sports. But after that unfortunate debut, Messi has gained prominence in the national team, becoming an undisputed leader. 187 matches, 109 goals, and 54 assists prove it.

THE COPA AMÉRICA

If winning his first World Cup cost blood, sweat, and tears, more or less the same can be said for the Copa América. Until the sixth participation, in 2021, Messi did not lift the champion's trophy with Argentina. Before that, three lost finals (2007, 2015, and 2016), a third-place finish (2019), and an elimination in the quarterfinals (2011). Along the way, 34 matches and 13 goals.

The 2021 final had all the ingredients to go down in history: hosted in Brazil, a match at the legendary Maracaná, and Brazil and Argentina competing for the title... A goal from Ángel di María in the 22nd minute was enough to conquer the trophy.

Thus, after years of constant pursuit of glory with his national team, in two swift moves, in 2021 and 2022, Messi was able to win the two major national team titles. But the cherry was missing in 2024, when the Copa America was his again, beating Colombia in the final. And in 2026 he is looking forward to the World Cup. It would be the most special culmination to the career of the legend called Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini.

An icon like Messi leaves his mark wherever he goes

Inter Miami: The discovery of America

In the summer of 2023, news that had been brewing for quite some time was confirmed: the arrival of Leo Messi in MLS, specifically to Inter Miami. It was no secret that David Beckham, owner of the Florida club, had been trying for several years to get the Argentine star to his team, which finally happened when Messi decided to leave Paris Saint Germain.

Long before Messi packed his bags to sign for PSG, after a whole career linked to Barcelona, rumors about his future in American football were constant. There was always talk that his last big professional contract would be linked to MLS. And so it has been. Inter Miami has provided Messi with all the ingredients to be very happy to have landed there: a good city, a good team, good teammates (Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba...), good weather, an emerging league... all the ingredients for Messi to continue demonstrating the football he still has in his boots.

Messi's impact on MLS has been immense from the first minute. Ticket sales for matches have multiplied by 7 just because of Leo's presence. Inter Miami is by far the team that sells the most tickets in the American league, tickets that have also increase in price by almost 64 percent. Also, ticket prices for Inter Miami matches increased by over a thousand percent immediately after the news of Messi's arrival in the United States.

But Messi's impact has not only been noticed in ticket sales, but also in other areas such as MLS Season or social media following. Thus, almost half (46%) of all MLS s to date were made in July after Messi's arrival. On the other hand, Inter Miami's Instagram following skyrocketed from around one million to 7.8 million after Messi's announcement, suring the s of the NFL, MLB, NHL, and other MLS teams.

An icon like Messi leaves a mark wherever he goes. It doesn't matter if he wears the shirt of Barça, PSG, Inter Miami, or the Argentina national team. Leo's impact at all levels (sporting, social, economic...) is unquestionable, and it's no wonder that David Beckham himself confessed that he broke down in tears when it was confirmed that the Argentine star had decided to accept his offer to wear the Inter Miami shirt.

Editing:
Juan Carlos Díaz Plaza - Francisco Villalobos - Tristan Afshar
Design / Layout
Emilio Alcalde - Raúl Escudero - Martina Gil - Sofía Valgañón - Tomás Alhambra
SEO:
Damien Santiago - Adrián Torres
VIDEOS:
Videos MARCA
DOCUMENTATION
David Pecker - Lorenzo Lara
Data as of October 6
PHOTOGRAPHS:
MARCA