BARCELONA, July 17 — Barcelona's electric 18-year-old winger Lamine Yamal has been handed the famous number 10 shirt previously worn by club icon Lionel Messi, capping a remarkable breakthrough season for the teenager.

EAST RUTHERFORD, July 10 — Defending champions Argentina booked their place in the Copa America final after goals from Julian Alvarez and Lionel Messi gave them a 2-0 win over Canada in yesterday’s semi-final here.

LONDON, Jan 16 — Argentine Lionel Messi retained the Fifa men's player of the year trophy on Monday, beating Manchester City's treble-winning Norwegian striker Erling Haaland and France's Paris St Germain forward Kylian Mbappe to the award.

PARIS, Oct 31 — Lionel Messi won his record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or here on Monday, while Spain's Aitana Bonmati claimed the women's award, reported Xinhua.

MIAMI, June 21 — Lionel Messi will likely make his debut for Inter Miami in a Leagues Cup match against Mexico's Cruz Azul on July 21, the US Major League club's co-owner Jorge Mas said on Tuesday, reported Xinhua.

BEIJING, June 16 — Lionel Messi delighted Argentina fans in Beijing when he scored the fastest goal of his international career, netting after 79 seconds as the world champions beat Australia 2-0 in a friendly at a raucous Workers' Stadium on Thursday.

REUTERS, Feb 11 — Argentina forward Lionel Messi is on the shortlist for the FIFA Best Male Player award, joined by Paris St Germain team-mate Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, football's world governing body announced on Friday.

BERLIN, Jan 13 — Football governing body FIFA on Thursday revealed the candidates shortlisted for the 2022 The Best, which has Qatar World Cup champion Lionel Messi as favourite to take the men's award.

ANKARA, Dec 20 — Lionel Messi's FIFA World Cup victory photo has received the most likes of any image posted by an athlete on Instagram.

DOHA, Dec 19 — Brazil great Pele sent congratulations to Argentina after their breathtaking World Cup final victory, describing Lionel Messi's success as the moment "his trajectory deserved".

BERLIN, Dec 19 — Lionel Messi expressed his disbelief after Argentina ended their long wait to clinch a third World Cup crown with a thrilling victory over France.

LUSAIL, Qatar, Dec 14 — The most clinical of smash-and-grabs kept Lionel Messi on track for his date with destiny and broke Croatian hearts as Argentina reached Sunday’s World Cup final with a 3-0 victory at the Lusail Stadium.

ANKARA, Dec 4 — Argentina beat Australia 2-1 on Saturday and will take on the Netherlands in the World Cup quarterfinals, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.

LUSAIL, Nov 27 — Argentina have eased the pressure from their shock opening World Cup defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia by beating Mexico on Saturday and can now approach their final group game against Poland with peace of mind, captain Lionel Messi said.

LUSAIL, Qatar, Nov 23 — Unheralded Saudi Arabia notched one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over Lionel Messi's Argentina thanks to a scintillating second half comeback.

LUSAIL, Qatar, Nov 22 — Unheralded Saudi Arabia notched one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over Lionel Messi's Argentina thanks to a scintillating second half comeback.

BARCELONA, Feb 1 — Lionel Messi scored his 650th goal for Barcelona while Antoine Griezmann struck the winner in a 2-1 home success over Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Sunday, avenging a defeat by the Basque side in the Spanish Super Cup final.