Lionel Messi is regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of all time. But when he’s not showing off his goal-scoring prowess on the pitch, this striker is juggling the all-time hat-trick: three adorable boys!
Messi shares his kids with his wife Antonella Roccuzzo, whom he married in June 2017 in their hometown of Rosario, Argentina. In 2023, the family of five made a big move, jumping the Atlantic and settling in Miami, after the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner signed a contract with Inter Miami, the Major League Soccer team co-owned by David Beckham in Florida.
The World Cup-winning captain of 2022, Messi followed his victory with a sweetheart moment hugging his older boys who were sporting jerseys with his number. It was just a tiny peek into life with the proud dad and his kids.
Read on for a more in-depth look into their family.
Thiago Messi Roccuzzo, 11
Messi andRoccuzzo welcomed their firstborn on Nov. 2, 2012. As a way to honor their boy, Messi got his name and handprint inked onto his calf, Huffington Post reported at the time.
Though Messi keeps his life out of the spotlight for the most part, he does occasionally share some details about his boys. In a 2017 interview with TyC Sports, Messi said, “Thiago is a phenomenon; he’s a good little boy.”
According to a February 2020 video that went viral on YouTube, Thiago is on his way to becoming a soccer star just like his dad. The footage shows the talented kid scoring a goal during his first match with his Barcelona team.
Today, he plays for Inter Miami’s under-12 squad.
Mateo Messi Roccuzzo, 8
Mateo, born on Sept. 11, 2015, is the couple’s middle child. Comparing him to Thiago, Messi said the two are total opposites.
Speaking to TyC Sports, he said, “They are very different. … Thiago likes cars and motorcycles more. He likes football, but even there he plays for a little bit and gets tired. Mateo is a terror, a character. It’s nice to see how different they are from each other.”
In 2019, in a video posted by ESPN UK, the soccer dad shared a little more.
“Mateo is very special, he’s always doing new things, things that grab your attention,” Messi said. “Mateo is the same as me when I was little, he doesn’t like to lose anything.”
On Mateo’s eighth birthday, Mom posted a touching tribute on Instagram that included a pair of sweet pics of Mateo in a pink jersey.
“We love you infinitely Matu, 8 years of stealing hearts,” she wrote.
Ciro Messi Roccuzzo, 5
Messi and Roccuzzo welcomed their youngest, Ciro, on March 10, 2018.
In an October 2022 interview with People, Messi shared a little about Ciro’s personality.
“He copies Mateo a lot, and they go against me a lot,” he said.
When he turned 5, Roccuzzo shared a birthday tribute on Instagram, along with two pics: one of Ciro as a baby, and another of him at 5 years old.
“Para siempre nuestro Bebé,” she wrote in the caption. The translation is, “Forever our baby.”
What Lionel Messi has said about his kids
In 2017, he told FC Barcelona that having children changed his life.
“You grow and you learn,” he said. “You gather experience in all aspects of life, on and off the field. But, as a human being, having three children changed my perspective on life, my way of thinking and it also helped me grow.”
Per The Athletic in December 2022, Messi said there was one thing he couldn’t stop thinking about during the World Cup.
“From the very beginning, from kick-off to the final whistle, I’m thinking of my children,” he said. “They’re growing older. They understand better what’s going on and they enjoy it more.”
Speaking with Apple TV+ in 2023, the athlete attributed the major Miami move to his kids.
“It was a family decision,” Messi said, Business Insider reported. “We had been through two difficult years. The truth is that we had not been well. It was very difficult for the whole family.” But the move, he said, “was a little bit like going back to what we were in Barcelona, enjoying everyday life. It was about the kids, having the family doing well.”
Deanna Janes
DeAnna Janes is a freelance writer and editor for a number of sites, including Harper’s BAZAAR, Tasting Table, Fast Company and Brit + Co, and is a passionate supporter of animal causes, copy savant, movie dork and reckless connoisseur of all holidays. A native Texan living in NYC since 2005, Janes has a degree in journalism from Texas A&M and got her start in media at US Weekly before moving on to O Magazine, and eventually becoming the entertainment editor of the once-loved, now-shuttered DailyCandy. She’s based on the Upper West Side.
