Portrait of Lionel Messi

Birthday profile

Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi, Argentinian footballer

Born
June 24, 1987
Age in 2026
39
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1987

About Lionel Messi

Lionel Andrés Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history, Messi has set numerous records for individual accolades won throughout his professional footballing career, including eight Ballon d'Ors, six European Golden Shoes, and eight times being named the world's best player by FIFA. In 2025, he was named the All Time Men's World Best Player by the IFFHS. He is the most decorated player in the history of professional football, having won 46 team trophies. Messi's records include most goals in a calendar year (91), most goals for a single club, most goals in La Liga (474), most assists in international football (61), most goal contributions in the FIFA World Cup (21), and most goal contributions in the Copa América (32). A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi has scored over 890 senior career goals and provided over 400 assists for club and country—the most of any player—resulting in over 1,300 goal contributions, the highest total in the sport's history. This resulted in Messi winning the first of four consecutive Ballon d'Ors, and by the 2011–12 season he set the European record for most goals in a season and established himself as Barcelona's all-time top scorer. He assumed Barcelona's captaincy in 2018 and won a record sixth Ballon d'Or in 2019.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Lionel Messi timeline

  1. This resulted in Messi winning the first of four consecutive Ballon d'Ors, and by the 2011–12 season he set the European record for most goals in a season and established himself as Barcelona's all-time top scorer.
  2. He assumed Barcelona's captaincy in 2018 and won a record sixth Ballon d'Or in 2019.

The world when Lionel Messi was born

Lionel Messi was born in 1987. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1987

  • #1 song"Walk Like an Egyptian" – The Bangles
  • Top movieThe Last Emperor
  • Top TV showThe Cosby Show
  • Best-selling bookThe Bonfire of the Vanities – Tom Wolfe

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentMike Tyson becomes undisputed heavyweight champion at age 20
  • Top headlineStock market crashes on Black Monday
  • Technology milestoneGIF format created
  • Defining fadSlap bracelets
  • Notable inventionGIF image format
  • World population5.03 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderRonald Reagan
  • Sports championMinnesota Twins (World Series)
  • Also wonLos Angeles Lakers (NBA)
  • U.S. population242.3M

1987 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Lionel Messi's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19872026
Gas$0.95$3.45/gal
Average home$85,600$435,000
Average income$30,970$67,500
Minimum wage$3.35$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$3.91$11.95
Postage stamp$0.22$0.73
Population242.3M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, International Olympic Committee, Olympedia. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.