Lionel Messi plays soccer for Argentina national team in the forward position.
Lionel Andrés `` Leo '' Messi ( [ ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi ] ; born 24 June 1987 ) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team . As the squad 's captain from August 2011 , he led Argentina to three consecutive finals : the 2014 World Cup , for which he won the Golden Ball , and the 2015 and 2016 Copas América .