The best fun facts about Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi is widely considered the greatest footballer the world has ever been fortunate enough to witness, lifting trophy after trophy and breaking record after record.

As a result, there is little that remains unknown about football's greatest superstar, with each and every movement met with significant fanfare and adulation from his legions of followers across the world.

However, there may be one or two things that you don't know about the Argentinian genius who has astonished football fans for over two decades.

Here are some fun facts about the player consider to be the GOAT.

Best fun facts about Lionel Messi

• Messi has won a record eight Ballons d'Or throughout the course of his career - as many as Zinedine Zidane, George Best, Ruud Gullit, Ronaldinho, Roberto Baggio, Lothar Matthaus, Bobby Charlton and Eusebio combined.

• Messi scored a record-breaking 91 goals for club and country in the calendar year of 2012, meaning he surpassed the tallies of Manchester United, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain over the 12-month period.

• Messi has scored more goals (9) against Arsenal than any other English team, achieving the feat in just six matches. It's the same tally as Cristiano Ronaldo against the Gunners, but the Portuguese took 18 matches to reach that number.

• Diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency at the age of 10, Messi had to undergo hormone treatment with Barcelona in 2014 to make him taller. He eventually reached 5ft 7in.

• Messi is the godfather of Benjamin Aguero, the son of his former Argentina team-mate Sergio Aguero. Benjamin is also the grandson of the late Diego Maradona.

• Speaking of family ties, Messi is actually a distant relation of former Barcelona team-mate Bojan Krkic. The pair are fourth cousins, sharing the same great-great-great grandparents.

• At the time of writing, Messi has still never scored a goal in the opening minute of a competitive fixture. The fastest goal of his career came in a friendly for Argentina against Australia after 79 seconds in 2023, according to CONMEBOL.

• Messi is the only male footballer to have ever won the Golden Ball - awarded to the best player at the FIFA World Cup - on two separate occasions, doing so in 2014 and 2022.

• Despite not boasting a reputation as a fiery individual, Messi was actually sent off on his senior Argentina debut against Hungary in 2005. The former Barcelona star was dismissed after less than a minute on the pitch following an elbow on Vilmos Vanczak.

• The first of many hat-tricks for Messi came in 2007 in a Clasico clash with Real Madrid. The game finished 3-3 thanks to an excellent strike from the South American in the 90th minute at Camp Nou.

• At the start of March 2019, Messi had scored 489 goals in the 2010s - the same as English side Sunderland. Unfortunately for the record Ballon d'Or champion, he couldn't quite top the Black Cats come the end of the decade.

• Messi is by far and away the record goalscorer in La Liga history with 474 strikes to his name, all coming with Barcelona. The next best is Cristiano Ronaldo with 311.

• Messi has scored more against Andalusian outfit Sevilla than any other club side, with 38 goals in 43 matches against them.

• The side Messi has faced most without losing over the course of his career is Racing de Santander. He has clashed with the Spanish outfit on 13 occasions without defeat, winning 11 and drawing two.

• Messi is the only winner of the Golden Boy award to have gone on to claim the Ballon d'Or. The award has been handed out since 2003, with Messi's triumph coming in 2005.

• Messi is the only player in Major League Soccer history to have provided five assists in a single match. The veteran managed the feat against New York Red Bulls on 4 May 2024.

• During his time at Barcelona, Messi won a staggering 34 titles in total. Ten of those came in La Liga, seven in the Copa del Rey and three in the Champions League.