August 8: Paris Saint-Germain and Lionel Messi are in negotiations on a contract after financially troubled Barcelona was unable to keep the superstar, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.

MADRID, Aug 6: Six-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi will leave Barcelona despite both parties having reached an agreement over a new contract, the La Liga club said on Thursday, citing economic and structural obstacles to the renewal of the deal.

CUIABA, BRAZIL, June 29: Lionel Messi became Argentina’s most capped international player on Monday, marking the occasion with two goals as he led his national team to a 4-1 win over Bolivia at the Copa America.

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 15: Argentina's Lionel Messi scored one of his trademark free kicks in the first half but Eduardo Vargas equalised for Chile in the second to leave honours even at 1-1 in their Copa America opener in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.

BARCELONA, Dec 20: Lionel Messi equalled Pele’s haul of 643 goals for Santos after scoring for Barcelona against Valencia in La Liga on Saturday, matching the Brazilian great’s scoring record for a single club.

VILA-REAL, July 6:  Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has said that captain Lionel Messi will end his career at the Catalan club, dismissing a report saying the Argentine no longer wishes to renew his current contract when it expires next year.

BARCELONA, Nov 28: Lionel Messi scored in his 700th match for Barcelona and also set up goals for Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann as the Catalans beat Borussia Dortmund 3-1 on Wednesday to seal a spot in the Champions League knockout stages as Group F winners.

TEL AVIV, Nov 19: Argentina’s Lionel Messi scored an added-time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw with Uruguay as they twice came from behind in an entertaining friendly match in Israel on Monday.

BARCELONA, Nov 10: Lionel Messi scored two exquisite free kicks as he netted his first hat-trick of the season in a 4-1 win over Celta Vigo at the Camp Nou on Saturday which took Barcelona back to the top of La Liga after a difficult week.

BARCELONA, Oct 30:  Barcelona captain Lionel Messi scored two goals and set up two more as the Catalans thrashed Real Valladolid 5-1 to move top of La Liga on Tuesday.

Milan, ITALY, Sept 24: Argentine Lionel Messi beat Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo to win the best FIFA player of the year award for a record sixth time on Monday.

BARCELONA, Sept 16: Barcelona captain Lionel Messi will be part of the squad to face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday as he prepares to make his comeback from injury.

CAMP NOU, May 1: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp urged his players not to become obsessed with Lionel Messi ahead of Wednesday night's Champions League showdown at the Camp Nou against Barcelona.

Lionel Messi is the highest-paid player in world football according to figures collated by France Football.

Lionel Messi is struck by "emotional fatigue" combining playing for Argentina and Barcelona, says technical director Cesar Luis Menotti.

Lionel Messi is already a Barcelona legend and is often referred to as the greatest player of all time.

BARCELONA, Feb 3: Lionel Messi dragged Barcelona back from two goals down by scoring twice to snatch a 2-2 draw at home to Valencia in a thrilling encounter on Saturday which interrupted the La Liga leaders’ streak of eight consecutive league wins.

Jan 25: 6 things to know by 6 PM today

January 25, 2019 18:00 pm

Your daily dose of missed important news of the day.

DEC 26: 6 things to know by 6 PM today

December 26, 2018 18:00 pm

Your daily dose of missed important news of the day.

Messi-less Barcelona messy: Jordi Cruyff

December 26, 2018 16:50 pm

Former Barcelona player Jordi Cruyff has warned his former club to learn from what happened at Real Madrid after the departure of five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

VALENCIA, Dec 17: Lionel Messi netted his first hat-trick of the La Liga season and provided two assists in yet another sensational individual display as a rampant Barcelona won 5-0 at Levante to strengthen their lead at the top of the table on Sunday.

BARCELONA, Oct 21: Barcelona snapped a four-match winless run in La Liga with a 4-2 home victory over title rivals Sevilla on Saturday to reclaim top spot but the triumph was marred by talisman Lionel Messi fracturing his arm and being ruled out for three weeks.

BARCELONA, Sept 30: Barcelona captain Lionel Messi says the La Liga champions are “angry” about dropping seven points in their last three league games after he came off the bench to help his side scrape a 1-1 draw at home to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

TURIN, Aug 22: Juventus newcomer Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score in his Serie A debut on Sunday, reigniting an online debate as his eternal rival Lionel Messi produced a blistering performance in La Liga the same day.

"I would tell him to play in Europe, not to travel more and not to let himself be used any more," soccer star Diego Maradona said of Lionel Messi.

Rome, July 27: Roma president James Pallotta has criticized Barcelona for their behavior following Malcom’s transfer to the Spanish club, after terms had apparently already been agreed for the Brazilian to move to the Italian capital.

July 25: France’s World Cup star Kylian Mbappe joined regulars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the shortlist for The Best FIFA Men’s player award, world soccer’s governing body announced on Tuesday.

For two reasons, Jorge Sampaoli was a strange choice to take over as Argentina coach a year ago.

KAZAN, June 30: Argentina and Lionel Messi need to find form fast if they are to go any further in the World Cup on Saturday when they meet a France team who have yet to live up to their billing.

RUSSIA, June 28: The name of Lionel Messi is on everyone’s lips in the French camp as Les Bleus gear up for a seismic clash with Argentina in the World Cup last 16 on Saturday.

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr says his team love Lionel Messi but will have no qualms about knocking his Argentina team out of the World Cup on Tuesday.

The world will be watching Lionel Messi on Tuesday as he and his Argentina team-mates attempt to rescue their Russia 2018 campaign against Nigeria.

RUSSIA, June 24: "Today Messi turns 31 years old, and we cannot help but congratulate the outstanding football player on his birthday," the director of the museum said wishing the Argentine victories, scores and added that Saransk is looking forward to him visiting the city.

When Moscow confectioners found out Lionel Messi would be celebrating his birthday during the World Cup, they decided he needed a gift that measured up - a life-size chocolate sculpture in his likeness.

Lionel Messi is set to lead a mass exodus of Argentina stars who will retire from international football after the World Cup.

MOSCOW, June 16: Tiny Iceland made a stunning first-ever World Cup appearance on Saturday when they held 2014 runners-up Argentina to a 1-1 draw in a dramatic match where Lionel Messi blew his chance to win it when he had a penalty saved by Hannes Por Halldorsson.

Jose Mourinho has predicted a stunning World Cup final cliffhanger between Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and an Argentina team led by his great rival Lionel Messi.

KATHMANDU, June 4: Argentina starts 2018 FIFA World Cup which is set to kick off from June 14 to July 15, to get one better of the last finals when it lost to Germany 1-0 in the final in 2014. The 'Group of Death' of has Croatia, Iceland, and Nigeria also fighting for their bids.

Argentina continue their FIFA 2018 World Cup preparations with a friendly against Haiti at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi said he would swap a Barcelona title for a trophy with the national team ahead of the World Cup in Russia.

GENEVA, May 26: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have put up impressive numbers — in life and on the field — going into a fourth World Cup.

ENGLAND, May 24: Former Liverpool ace Philippe Coutinho and Lionel Messi are railing against their Barcelona team-mates when it comes to the Reds chances in the Champions League final against Real Madrid.

Forwards Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain have all been included in Argentina's 23-man squad for the World Cup in Russia.

RUSSIA, May 17: ISIS threatened to behead Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at the World Cup in chilling mocked-up photos.

MOHAMED SALAH is on a par with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and he’ll prove it over the next 10 years, says Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde defended his decision to rotate the team against Celta Vigo, where the La Liga leaders saw their title charge held up by a 2-2 draw and had Sergi Roberto sent off.

Along with the unabated popularity of football, growing still, fans across the world have kept the debate about their favorite players and teams alive through the past several decades. As a global sport, football has united millions of fans across the world in many ways.

BARCELONA, April 1: Lionel Messi’s late heroics against Sevilla to snatch a 2-2 draw for Barcelona on Saturday showed it is not just Argentina who have an unhealthy over-reliance on the brilliance of the five-times world player of the year.

Cristiano Ronaldo versus Lionel Messi is the one debate which everyone in football, from fans to players to pundits, seems to have an opinion on.

BARCELONA, March 15: Lionel Messi scored two brilliant goals and created another for Ousmane Dembele as Barcelona thrashed Chelsea 3-0 on Wednesday to reach the Champions League quarter-finals 4-1 on aggregate.