Lionel Messi wins 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports ahead of his sixth World Cup

Lionel Messi has been awarded the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports, the jury announced on Wednesday at the Hotel de la Reconquista in Oviedo, Spain. The 38-year-old Argentine, born in Rosario on 24 June 1987, is currently in Kansas City with the Albiceleste preparing for the World Cup that begins on 11 June in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

A career spanning two decades

Messi's professional journey began in Barcelona, where he arrived at age 13 to join the club's youth academy while receiving treatment for a growth hormone deficiency. With FC Barcelona he won four Champions League titles (2006, 2009, 2011, 2015), ten La Liga championships, seven Copa del Rey trophies, three Club World Cups, three European Super Cups and seven Spanish Super Cups. After leaving Barcelona in 2021 due to the club's financial difficulties, he played for Paris Saint-Germain, winning two Ligue 1 titles and a French Super Cup, before joining Inter Miami in the summer of 2023, where he won the MLS title in 2025.

In the personal sphere, Messi has represented a model of overcoming — after suffering a growth problem in childhood — and is considered a global benchmark in sport for his consistency, humility and commitment to collective play, according to his teammates.

International redemption

For years Messi carried the weight of comparison with Diego Maradona and the suspicion that, without a World Cup, he would never occupy the same emotional pedestal for Argentines. Germany was his recurring executioner: quarter-final exits in 2006 and 2010, and defeat in the 2014 final. France eliminated Argentina in 2018. At 35, in Qatar 2022, Messi finally lifted the trophy at Lusail Stadium after an agonising final against France, closing a wound that had been open his entire career.

The numbers behind the legend

Across more than 1,000 professional matches, Messi has scored over 800 goals and provided close to 400 assists for club and country. He holds the record for most Ballon d'Or awards with eight (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023) and has also won a Laureus Award. His trophy cabinet includes roughly fifty official titles.

Social dimension and the award

The jury, chaired by Paralympic swimmer Teresa Perales (who won the same award in 2021), selected Messi from 27 candidates of 12 nationalities. The award recognises careers that, through the promotion and development of sport and its social dimension, become an example of the benefits of sporting practice. The jury highlighted Messi's role as a UNICEF ambassador since 2010 and his work through the Leo Messi Foundation, which promotes access to education and health for vulnerable children. The prize includes a Joan Miró sculpture, a diploma, an insignia and 50,000 euros.

His career has also been recognised with various institutional honours and distinctions for his contribution to sport and social impact as a UNICEF ambassador since 2010 and his important charitable work through the Leo Messi Foundation.

Sixth World Cup on the horizon

Messi will participate this summer, between 11 June and 19 July, in his sixth World Cup, captaining Argentina as they aim to defend the title won in Qatar. He succeeds American tennis player Serena Williams, winner of the 2025 edition, in the award's roll of honour, joining past recipients such as Rafael Nadal, Fernando Alonso, Teresa Perales and Carolina Marín.