Lionel Messi wife: who is Antonela Roccuzzo, when did they get married, do they have children, how many kids?

Lionel Messi is one of the most decorated and successful footballers of all time and he has added to his illustrious list of achievements by lifting the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Messi and his Argentina team mates lifted the trophy for the first time in 1986 after a hard fought penalty shootout victory against 2018 winners France.

The 35-year-old forward has been pivotal to Argentina’s success and scored an impressive seven goals from seven games. Messi became the first player in football history to score at every stage of the World Cup and was cheered on every step of the way by his wife Antonela Roccuzzo and his children.

But who is Antonela Roccuzzo and how long has she been married to the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner?

Here is everything you need to know.

Who is Antonela Roccuzzo?

Antonela Roccuzzo is a 34-year-old Argentinian model and the wife of PSG striker Lionel Messi.

Roccuzzo was born in Argentina’s third largest city of Rosario and grew up in the same area as Messi. The pair are believed to have been childhood sweethearts and have known each other since the age of five. The couple first met through Messi’s childhood friend Lucas Scaglia who is also the cousin of Roccuzzo.

Messi and Roccuzzo went public about their relationship in 2008 around three years after he made his Barcelona and Argentina debut.

What does Antonela Roccuzzo do for a living?

Antonela Rocucuzzo studied humanities and social sciences in her bachelors and went on to study dentistry in her postgraduate studies.

Roccuzzo left Argentina to join Lionel Messi during his time at Barcelona and she now works as a model. Roccuzzo has a total of 22.8 million followers on Instagram.

When did Lionel Messi marry Antonela Roccuzzo?

Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo got married in their hometown of Rosario in 2017. Their wedding was dubbed Argentina’s wedding of the century by the national media and it featured a host of big names guests including Messi’s former teammate Gerard Pique and his former wife Shakira.

Do Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo have children?

Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo have three sons: Thiago (born 2012), Matteo (born 2015) and Ciro (born 2018).

The three are all big football fans and they have each attended all of Messi’s games throughout the course of the tournament in Qatar. His eldest son Thiago is also tipped to follow in his fathers footsteps and is reportedly training with PSG’s youth team.

Is Lionel Messi the greatest of all time?

Lionel Messi has been described by many fans as the greatest footballer to ever play the game. Over the course of his illustrious career he has lifted 10 La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles, four Champions League titles and most recently the World Cup title.

Messi is both Barcelona and Argentina’s all-time leading goalscorer and he has dominated the footballing landscape for nearly 20 years.

Throughout the early stages of his career Argentina fans criticised Messi for failing to translate his club form onto the world stage, particularly after a poor showing in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa where he failed to score.

However, Messi has changed this narrative in recent years. The 35-year-old was the player of the tournament during their Copa America victory in 2021 - Argentina’s first title since 1991.

Messi then followed that up with one of the greatest ever individual World Cup campaigns to carry his country to the 2022 title. Messi scored a total of seven goals across the tournament in Qatar and played a key role during every phase of the competition. He also recorded the most assists of the competition and set up three goals during their route to victory.

Messi’s outstanding contribution during the 2022 campaign earned him the FIFA Golden Ball joining a distinguished group of players such as Zinedine Zidane and fellow Argentine icon Diego Maradona.