When Lionel Messi led the Argentine team to a World Cup championship in 2022, many declared him the greatest soccer player ever.
But some had been hinting at the same for years, like commentator Ray Hudson, who said during the star’s FC Barcelona days, “They tell me that all men are equal in the eyes of God, but this man seriously makes you think about those words.”
If anyone has an excuse to invite attention and glory to himself, Messi does — as he again leads his team to a World Cup final this weekend. Yet after a miraculous comeback win in this week’s semifinal against England, Messi didn’t focus on himself.
He directed attention to his team that “never stops trying.” In response to another question, he said: “God is truly great and he always has something more, but the truth is I can’t ask for anything else.
“I am so grateful for everything he gave me in sports and in my personal life.”
This wasn’t a one-off mention of God, as sometimes happens in postgame press conferences. In quiet ways, this reserved superstar has made sure for years now that people know his deepest priorities and where he looks to for strength.
Devoted father and husband
An interviewer once asked Messi, “Do you pray? … Do you speak with God? I want to know about that.”
“I always speak to him,” the athlete responded. “I thank him … I ask him, above all, for the well-being of my family, of my loved ones.”
Messi and his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, first met in their hometown of Rosario, Argentina, when he was just 5 years old. They have been a couple now for 19 years.
In a 2024 interview with Argentina’s Luzu TV, Messi spoke about how reserved his personality was in comparison to his wife: “It’s hard for me to show things, to express myself. She’s more expressive than I am.”
But he added that when he leaves in the morning, since he knows that they won’t “see each other again until the kids are out of school,” he said, “I’ll leave her a little gift, something small …”
Lionel and Antonela have three sons, Thiago (13), Mateo (10) and Ciro (8). They are often in the stands cheering him on, with videos of their interactions as a family after games looking much like other parents needing to make sure rambunctious teens are behaving.
Messi’s love for his family is openly displayed in tattoos of each of his family members, along with a large one of Christ with thorns on his shoulder.
Messi said in the same 2024 interview, “When I enter into my house, with my family, I try to be a normal dad.” He also admitted that his wife has a strict rule of no soccer balls in the house.
After winning the Best Men’s Player award at the Best FIFA Football Awards in 2023, he wrapped up his acceptance speech speaking directly to his kids watching at home. “I send a big kiss to my children who are watching — Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro. I love you … and go to sleep now!”
‘God gave me a gift’
Messi almost always points to the sky after making a goal. To his deceased grandmother who believed in him early, other family members, his wife, his God, his team, his fans and country — this is where the reserved athlete seems to consistently direct attention.
Earlier in the tournament, Argentina beat Algeria thanks to Messi’s hat trick. Afterward, he said, “I can’t ask for any more after everything I’ve received, like I’ve said many times. Thanks to God, he gifted me too much, and everything that comes now is about enjoying it.”
At a 2025 business forum, Messi was asked, “Are champions made, or are they born?”
“No, well, I always said that God gave me a gift, that He chose me,” he said, before talking about all the hard work and sacrifice that was also required to reach the place he had.
“I did everything possible to be able to achieve it,” Messi said. “But as I said at the beginning, I am grateful to God because He gave me the main thing.”
‘Praying just as I have my entire life’
Just over a month after winning the World Cup, on Jan. 30, 2023, Messi was asked by journalist Andy Kusnetzoff to go back to the most tension-packed ending of the match: “The moment of the penalty shootout arrives. … What did you feel?”
After recalling how he encouraged his teammate taking the final penalty shot, Messi added, “And yes, praying to God, just as I have my entire life, always, in everything, and even more so in that moment.”
Before the championship-winning penalty shot, Messi is captured looking up and whispering. The same interviewer pressed him to explain who he was directing his thoughts to in that moment — his grandmother, or perhaps the late Argentine star Diego Maradona?”
“No, no. Truthfully, no. It was to God,” Messi said. “It wasn’t about Diego or my grandmother.”