Lionel Messi early years.

 

The third of four children born to steel industry manager Jorge Messi and his wife Celia Cuccittini, who worked in a magnet manufacturing workshop, Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, on June 24, 1987. Being the great-grandson of immigrants from the north-central Adriatic Marche area of Italy, he is of Italian and Spanish origin on his father's side and predominantly Italian on his mother's side. "Leo" was raised in a close-knit family that was passionate about football. He played the game frequently with his older brothers, Rodrigo and Matías, as well as his cousins, Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi, who went on to become professional football players. At four years old, he joined the neighbourhood team Grandoli, where his father served as coach. However, it was his maternal grandmother Celia who accompanied him to practices and games that had the biggest impact on him as a player. Her passing just before turning eleven years old had a profound impact on him; ever then, he has celebrated his accomplishments by raising his hand in a loving gesture to the sky in remembrance of his grandmother.

Messi, who has always been a fan of Newell's Old Boys, became a member of the Rosario club at the age of six. He played for Newell's for six years, during which time he nearly 500 goals as a member of "The Machine of '87," the nearly invincible youth squad named after the year of their inception. He also delighted fans with ball tricks at halftime of first team home games. But when he was diagnosed with a growth hormone shortage at the age of 10, it put his career as a professional athlete in jeopardy. While growth hormone medication costs at least $1,000 per month and was only covered for two years by his father's health insurance, Newell's agreed to help, but later broke their word. The Buenos Aires team River Plate, whose playmaker Pablo Aimar he admired, sent scouts to check him out. Though it was rumoured that his poor health prevented him from signing with River Plate, Messi disclosed in a 2019 interview that the team had offered to cover his medical expenses even though they ultimately turned him down. Ronaldo, a striker from Brazil, was his childhood idol and what Messi called "the best forward I've ever seen".

The Messi family tried to set up a trial with Barcelona for September 2000 because they have relatives in Catalonia. Charly Rexach, the first team director, wanted to recruit him right away, but the board of directors was hesitant because, at the time, it was quite uncommon for European clubs to sign young foreign players. When Barcelona was given till December 14 to demonstrate their commitment, Rexach, out of paper, made an offer for a contract on a paper serviette. The family moved to Barcelona in February 2001, taking up residence in an apartment close to Camp Nou, the team's stadium. Due to a transfer dispute with Newell's, Messi played little for the Infantiles during his first season in Spain; as a foreign player, he was only allowed to participate in friendlies and the Catalan league. He found it difficult to fit in with the squad without football; naturally shy, he was so quiet that his teammates thought he was deaf. After his mother moved back to Rosario with his brothers and younger sister, María Sol, he experienced homesickness at home while he remained in Barcelona with his father.

In February 2002, Messi eventually registered with the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) following a year of training at Barcelona's junior programme, La Masia. He started participating in all tournaments and made friends with Cesc Fàbregas and Gerard Piqué, two of his colleagues. At the age of 14, Messi finished his growth hormone treatment and went on to become a key member of Barcelona's best-ever junior team, known as the "Baby Dream Team". He scored the most goals for the Cadetes A in his first full season (2002–03), leading them to a historic league triple as well as the Spanish and Catalan cups in 30 games. The 4-1 victory over Espanyol in the Copa Catalunya final earned the team a nickname known as the partido de la máscara, or the final of the mask. After breaking his cheekbone in a league game a week prior, Messi was permitted to play the entire game as long as he wore a plastic shield. However, the mask quickly became an obstacle, so he removed it and scored two goals in ten minutes before being replaced. He received an offer to sign with Arsenal at the end of the season, his first from a foreign team, but he decided to stay in Barcelona while Fàbregas and Piqué soon moved for England.