Lionel Messi: Alien or Human? Meet the people behind the 7-time Ballon d'Or winner's success

Lionel Messi: Alien or Human? Meet the people behind the 7-time Ballon d'Or winner's success.

i

Lionel Messi family

Lionel Messi: Alien or Human? Meet the people behind the 7-time Ballon d'Or winner's success

David Ben 20:56 - 06.04.2023

Here's all you need to know about the family life of seven-time Ballon d'Or winner and one of football's all-time greats, Lionel Andres Messi.

Lionel Messi is undoubtedly one of the greatest footballers in the history of mankind, perhaps the best footballer to ever step foot on the soccer field. 

The Paris Saint Germain forward holds a number of incredible individual records courtesy of his extraordinary brilliance on the pitch.

Messi has been often described as the ‘ultimate playmaker of the 21st century’, and one of the most prolific Argentine footballers of all time.

Messi, who is one of the richest footballers in the world is a record 7-time Ballon d’Or winner and a 6-time European Golden Shoe winner. 

He has scored over 800 goals for club and country and also holds the record for most goals scored for a single club by an individual. 

Lionel Messi family
PSG superstar Lionel Messi.
var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ug/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

The 35-year-old diminutive maestro won his first Ballon d’Or at the age of 22, a testament to his immaculate greatness on the pitch.

In this article, we will review the details of the Lionel Messi family, including his wife, children, parents, and siblings.

Who is Lionel Messi’s wife?

Lionel Messi and his wife Antonela Roccuzzo

Lionel Messi is married to Antonela Roccuzzo.

Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo met when they were just kids, and more than 20 years later, their love keeps waxing stronger.

When did Lionel Messi and Antonela Rocuzzo get married?

Lionel Messi family
Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo got married in 2017

Rocuzzo became a full member of the Messi family when she married the former Barcelona captain on June 30th, 2017.

The couple got married, hosting a beautiful wedding in their hometown of Rosario. 

Messi married Antonella at the City Center hotel, with over 260 guests, among which included his former Barcelona teammates Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Neymar, Sergio Aguero, Samuel Eto’o, Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez and Messi’s family members.

How did Lionel Messi and Antonela Rocuzzo meet?

Lionel Messi family
Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo

When they were kids, Messi and Antonela used to play on the streets with their friends, like many other kids their age. 

Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo met, mainly thanks to Lucas Scaglia.

Lucas and Messi were players at Newell’s Old Boys, the children’s soccer and became close friends. 

Lucas was Antonela’s cousin and one summer he invited Messi to spend vacations with his family.

When they turned 9, Lionel and Antonela reportedly fell in madly in love with each other.

Lionel Messi family
Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo

When Messi moved to Europe in order to pursue his football career, both he and Antonela thought that their relationship was over, nothing more than a beautiful memory. 

However,  a personal tragedy brought them back together, prompting Messi to return to Argentina in order to be with Antonela.

When he was 11 years old, Messi received news that he was diagnosed with a growth hormone disorder, something that put his dreams of becoming a professional soccer player in serious doubt. 

Lionel Messi family
Young Lionel Messi

His father, Jorge Messi, did everything he could to get a team to sign Messi and to pay for his medical treatment.

Barcelona came calling and Messi left for Spain to follow his dreams, being signed by the children’s division of the Catalan giants.

 Over the years in Spain, Messi quickly grew from strength to strength, easily becoming the face of the club.

However, he still could not help but think about Antonela, who was still in Rosario.

It was reported that Antonela studied dental medicine in her hometown, and around that time, she faced a tremendous personal loss as her best friend died in a car crash.

Antonela was devastated, and this forced Messi to fly back to Argentina as soon as he heard the news. 

Messi family
Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo

The couple reunited and made plans for their future together, with Antonela leaving her old life behind in order to move to Spain and live with Messi.

Antonela moved to Messi’s house in Castelldefels, Barcelona, marking the start of their life as a couple. 

In June 2012, they announced that they were expecting their first child together as the Messi family began to grow.

Messi family
Lionel Messi and a pregnant Antonela Roccuzzo in 2013

Lionel Messi’s children

Lionel Messi soon started his own family with Antonela Roccuzzo following their relationship.

Lionel Messi family
Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo with their three children

Does Lionel Messi have children? Messi and his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, have three adorable sons together, Thiago (born 2012), Mateo (born 2015), and Ciro (born 2018).

Lionel Messi family
Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo with their three children

Messi and Antonela’s children are always appearing on their parent’s social media pages.

And football fans are eagerly waiting to see which of the three brothers will follow in their father's magical footsteps.

Lionel Messi family
(From L-R) Ciro, Mateo, and Thiago

Does Messi have a family?

Lionel Messi was born to a middle-class family in Rosario, Argentina. 

Lionel Messi family
Lionel Messi family

The Messi family is made up of Leo's parents as well as his three siblings.

Who are Lionel Messi’s parents?

The Messi family started with Jorge Messi, who is Leo’s father and Celia Cuccittini.

Lionel Messi family
Lionel Messi and his parents

Jorge Messi and Celia Cuccittini gave birth to the football genius the world has come to know today - Lionel Messi.

The couple also have three other children in the Messi family.

 Lionel Messi is very close to both his parents, although, he does not see Celia as much as Jorge, who is his agent.

Lionel Messi family
Lionel Messi and his mother

 Messi is always attentive to his mother.

On her 57th birthday, he gifted her a giant cake with a female high-heeled shoe on it and posted pictures with it on his Instagram.

 In addition, Messi has also tattooed his mother’s face on his shoulder.

Lionel Messi family
Lionel Messi tattooed his mother's face on his shoulder

Jorge Messi is his father and agent since the time Leo started his professional football career. 

Jorge spent most of his life in the big industrial city of Rosario.

 He was from a working-class society and earned his living as a steel factory worker.

Lionel Messi family
Lionel and Jorge Messi

Jorge Messi taught his son Leo how to play football and noticed his talent for the beautiful game.

 He took Leo to the local sports club Grandoli and coached the kids’ football team, where his son played.

Messi family
Jorge Messi is Lionel's father and agent

Does Messi have brothers and sisters?

The Messi family has four children: Rodrigo, Matias, Lionel and Maria Sol.

Who are Messi's siblings? Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi has three siblings and is the third of four children of Jorge Messi and Celia María Cuccittini. 

Lionel Mesi family
Lionel Messi and his siblings

The first of the four children is Rodrigo Messi, the oldest brother of Lionel Messi, and a member of the Messi family.

 Rodrigo Messi was born on February 10, 1980 and is seven years older than Lionel Messi.

 Rodrigo is a sports businessman and has over 237,000 followers on Instagram

He is the agent of former Barcelona youngster Konrad de la Fuente, and former adviser of Ansu Fati who later switched to super agent Jorge Mendes in 2020.

Rodrigo manages Leo’s daily schedule and public relations.

Matias is Lionel Messi’s second brother and a member of the Messi family.

Matias has over 152,000 followers on Instagram.

 He runs his brother’s charity foundation, named “Leo Messi Foundation”. 

Messi family
Leo Messi and his sister Maria Sol Messi

Maria Sol Messi is the only girl in the Messi family. 

She is famous for being Leo Messi’s sister, and she has over 400,000 followers on her Instagram page.

Related content

Messi reaches 800 career goals
FOOTBALL

05:02 - 24.03.2023

FOOTBALL Messi reaches 800 career goals

Despite hitting the post twice from free kicks, Messi finally curled his third attempt past Panama keeper Jose Carlos Guerra in the 89th minute, at the Monumental Stadium.

Tags: