Every club Lionel Messi has played for

Messi has played senior football for three clubs in 22 seasons. One of them, Barcelona, accounts for most of what people mean when they call him the best player of his era. The other two added a French double and the first league title in Inter Miami's history. Here is the full path, in order.

Newell's Old Boys, 1994–2000

Messi grew up in Rosario and joined Newell's Old Boys at about six. He played in the club's celebrated 1987-born youth side, which lost very few matches over several seasons. At ten he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. The treatment cost his family several hundred dollars a month, more than they could afford, and Argentine clubs were reluctant to cover it.

In September 2000 he went on trial at Barcelona. Sporting director Carles Rexach was convinced quickly but the board hesitated, so on 14 December 2000 Rexach wrote a commitment to sign him on a paper napkin. The family moved to Spain in early 2001 and Barcelona paid for the treatment. Messi never played a first-team match for Newell's, a point Rosario has never quite made peace with.

FC Barcelona, 2004–2021

He came through La Masia and the club's youth sides with Cesc Fàbregas and Gerard Piqué. Frank Rijkaard gave him his competitive first-team debut on 16 October 2004 against Espanyol, aged 17. His first goal came on 1 May 2005 against Albacete, a lob from a Ronaldinho pass, which made him the club's youngest La Liga scorer at the time.

The Guardiola years

Pep Guardiola took over in 2008 and moved Messi from the right wing into the centre as a "false nine", a striker who drops deep to receive the ball. Barcelona won six trophies in 2009, the first club to do so in a calendar year, and Messi won his first Ballon d'Or. In the 2011–12 season he scored 73 goals in all competitions, including 50 in La Liga, and in calendar year 2012 he scored 91, both records that still stand.

The second treble and the long goodbye

With Luis Suárez and Neymar alongside him, Barcelona won the league, cup and Champions League in 2014–15. He became club captain in 2018. By 2020 the club was struggling on and off the pitch, and Messi sent a formal request to leave that summer, then stayed for one more season. In August 2021 the two sides agreed a new contract, but Barcelona's finances meant La Liga would not let them register it. Messi said goodbye at a press conference on 8 August 2021, in tears.

Paris Saint-Germain, 2021–2023

Messi signed for PSG on 10 August 2021 and debuted against Reims on 29 August. The move put him in a front line with Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, and while the domestic results came, the Champions League did not: PSG went out in the round of 16 in both of his seasons. He won Ligue 1 twice and the Trophée des Champions once, and finished with 32 goals in 75 matches.

The PSG years produced his best international moment, though. He won his seventh Ballon d'Or in 2021 and, during his second season, the 2022 World Cup, beating Mbappé's France in the final. He won his eighth Ballon d'Or in 2023 on the strength of that tournament.

Inter Miami CF, 2023–present

Messi joined Inter Miami in July 2023, signing for the club co-owned by David Beckham. In his first game, on 21 July 2023 against Cruz Azul, he scored a stoppage-time free kick to win it 2-1. Over the next month he scored 10 goals in seven matches as Miami, bottom of the Eastern Conference when he arrived, won the inaugural Leagues Cup.

Former Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suárez followed him, and Javier Mascherano, his long-time Argentina teammate, became coach. In 2024 Miami won the Supporters' Shield with a record 74 points and Messi was named MLS MVP. In 2025 he went further.

The 2025 MLS Cup final, a 3-1 win over Vancouver Whitecaps on 6 December 2025, gave Miami its first league title. Messi set up two goals and was named MVP of the final. Days later he became the first player to win MLS MVP in consecutive seasons. In October 2025 he extended his contract to the end of the 2028 season, which is why his international retirement does not end his playing career.