Lionel Messi
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This Lionel Messi quiz has 49 free questions with answers and follows the whole arc: the boy from Rosario diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency at ten, the contract famously scribbled on a napkin, the teenager Ronaldinho called 'little brother', the 91-goal year, the sextuple, the departure from Barcelona that nobody wanted, and the night in Lusail that finally settled the argument. It ends in Miami, where he was still breaking league records in his late thirties. The questions mix the numbers every fan knows (how many Ballons d'Or, how many Champions Leagues) with details that trip up casual viewers: which club he played for at seven, what shirt number he took at PSG, who scored a hat-trick against him in a World Cup final and still lost, and which award he was the first footballer ever to win. About a third are easy, the rest climb steadily. Every answer has been checked against a cited source, and the citation appears under each explanation, so the pub debate can be closed on the spot.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which Argentine city was Lionel Messi born in June 1987?
Rosario
Rosario, on the Paraná River in Santa Fe province, is Messi's birthplace; the city also produced Che Guevara and Ángel Di María.
Q 02At age ten Messi was diagnosed with what condition, which threatened his future in football?
A growth hormone deficiency
A growth hormone deficiency: the nightly injections cost about $1,000 a month, more than his family or Argentine clubs would cover, so Barcelona's offer to pay for the treatment sealed his move.
Q 03Barcelona's first commitment to sign the 13-year-old Messi was famously written on what?
A paper napkin
Sporting director Carles Rexach had nothing else to hand at a tennis club. The napkin was later sold at auction for close to £800,000.
Q 04Which club in his home city did Messi play for before moving to Barcelona?
Newell's Old Boys
Newell's Old Boys: Messi scored hundreds of goals for the Rosario club's youth side, 'The Machine of '87', before leaving for Barcelona in 2000; Rosario Central are Newell's city rivals.
Q 05Which Barcelona star nicknamed the teenage Messi 'little brother' and eased his way into the first team?
Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho took the teenage Messi under his wing, calling him 'little brother', and the Brazilian set up Messi's first senior goal, a chip against Albacete on 1 May 2005.
Q 06What club record did Messi's first senior Barcelona goal, against Albacete in May 2005, set?
Youngest-ever scorer for the club at the time
Youngest-ever scorer for the club at the time: Messi was 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old when he chipped in against Albacete; Bojan Krkić took the record in 2007.
Q 07Messi's first senior hat-trick, in March 2007, came against which opponent?
Real Madrid
Real Madrid: Messi's hat-trick in the 3-3 Clásico at the Camp Nou on 10 March 2007, aged 19, made him the first player to score three in the fixture since Iván Zamorano in 1995.
Q 08Messi's 2007 goals against Getafe and Espanyol were compared to whose two most famous goals?
Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona: Messi's slalom through Getafe's defence in April 2007 mirrored Maradona's 'Goal of the Century', and his handball finish against Espanyol that June echoed the 'Hand of God', both from the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against England.
Q 09Messi was handed Barcelona's number 10 shirt at the start of which season?
2008-09
2008-09: with Ronaldinho sold to AC Milan that summer, Messi inherited Barcelona's number 10 shirt for the 2008-09 season, having previously worn 19.
Q 10In 2009 Barcelona became the first club to achieve what?
The sextuple
The sextuple: in 2009 Barcelona won La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Champions League, the Spanish Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup, six trophies in one calendar year.
Q 11How many goals did Messi score in all competitions for club and country during the calendar year 2012?
91
91 goals: Messi's 79 for Barcelona and 12 for Argentina in 2012 broke Gerd Müller's 40-year-old record of 85 goals in a calendar year, set in 1972.
Q 12How many Ballon d'Or awards had Messi won by the end of 2023?
Eight
Eight: Messi won the Ballon d'Or in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023, the last after Argentina's 2022 World Cup win; he also won six European Golden Shoes.
Q 13How many UEFA Champions League titles did Messi win with Barcelona?
Four
Four: Messi won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015, starting the last three finals and missing the 2006 final through injury, within a club-record 35 trophies.
Q 21Besides being jointly named Best Player, what award did Messi win at the 2021 Copa América?
The Golden Boot
The Golden Boot: Messi finished as the 2021 Copa América's top scorer with four goals, plus five assists, as Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 at the Maracanã to end a 28-year wait for a major title.
Q 22Why did Barcelona say in August 2021 that they could not re-sign Messi?
Financial constraints and La Liga's spending rules
Financial constraints and La Liga's spending rules: Barcelona's wage bill breached the league's salary limit, so his new deal could not be registered; Messi wept through his farewell press conference on 8 August 2021 and joined PSG two days later.
Q 23What squad number did Messi choose when he joined Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021?
Q 14How many goals did Messi score for Barcelona in all competitions, the record for a single club?
672
672: Messi scored 672 goals in 778 games for Barcelona between 2004 and 2021, overtaking Pelé's 643 for Santos as the most goals for a single club.
Q 15Barcelona's 2009 Champions League win over Manchester United completed which landmark?
The first treble in Spanish football history
The first treble in Spanish football history: the 2-0 win over Manchester United in Rome on 27 May 2009 added the Champions League to that season's La Liga and Copa del Rey; Barcelona repeated the treble in 2015.
Q 16At the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, Messi finished with six goals and which award?
The Golden Ball
He also took the Golden Shoe as top scorer as Argentina won the tournament in the Netherlands, beating Nigeria in the final.
Q 17Whom did Argentina beat in the 2008 Olympic final to win Messi his gold medal?
Nigeria
Nigeria: Argentina's under-23s, with Messi, beat Nigeria 1-0 in the Beijing final on 23 August 2008 through an Ángel Di María goal, after Barcelona had tried to block his release.
Q 18Messi's dual citizenship made him eligible for which national team besides Argentina?
Spain
Spain approached him about switching allegiance; Argentina hurried to cap him at youth level in 2004 to close the door.
Q 19At the 2014 World Cup, Argentina lost the final to Germany, but Messi still received which award?
The Golden Ball
He looked miserable collecting it. Eight years later he became the first player ever to win it twice.
Q 20After captaining Argentina to three straight lost finals (2014–16), what did Messi announce in 2016?
His retirement from international football
His retirement from international football: after missing a penalty in the Copa América Centenario shootout against Chile in June 2016, Messi said the national team was over for him, then reversed the decision within weeks.
30
30: Messi took the number 30, the shirt he wore when he broke into Barcelona's first team as a teenager, since Neymar kept PSG's number 10; his contract ran two years with an option for a third.
Q 24The 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France was played at which venue?
Lusail
Lusail Stadium, an 88,000-seat ground built for the tournament north of Doha, hosted the 18 December 2022 final and, earlier, Argentina's shock 2-1 opening defeat by Saudi Arabia.
Q 25Which France player scored a hat-trick in the 2022 World Cup final and still finished on the losing side?
Kylian Mbappé
Kylian Mbappé scored three in the 2022 final, including two goals 97 seconds apart, becoming only the second man after Geoff Hurst in 1966 to score a World Cup final hat-trick, and the first to lose one.
Q 26What did Messi become the first player ever to do at the 2022 World Cup?
Win a second Golden Ball
Win a second Golden Ball: Messi, best player of the 2014 tournament, was named the 2022 World Cup's best player too, the first man to win the award twice; he scored twice in the final.
Q 27How did Argentina win the 2022 World Cup final after a 3-3 draw?
4-2 on penalties
4-2 on penalties: Emiliano Martínez saved Kingsley Coman's kick and Aurélien Tchouaméni shot wide, while Argentina scored all four of theirs, Gonzalo Montiel converting the winner.
Q 28Which MLS club signed Messi in July 2023?
Inter Miami
Inter Miami: Messi signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Inter Miami CF in July 2023, and his number 10 shirt immediately became the best-selling jersey in MLS.
Q 29Whom did Inter Miami beat in the 2023 Leagues Cup final, Messi's first US trophy?
Nashville SC
Nashville SC: Inter Miami won the 2023 Leagues Cup final 10-9 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Nashville, Messi scoring the opening goal and converting in the shootout, the club's first trophy.
Q 30With how many points did Messi's Inter Miami set the MLS regular-season record in 2024?
74
74: Inter Miami won the 2024 Supporters' Shield with 74 points from 34 games, beating the 73 set by New England Revolution in 2021; Messi was the league's MVP that season.