Who does Lionel Messi support? Inter Miami star's boyhood teams and favourite clubs

Lionel Messi's place in football's unofficial hall of fame is secure. He will rightly go down as one of the greatest — if not THE greatest — ever to play the game.

Having won the coveted Ballon d'Or on a record eight occasions, as well as multiple league and Champions League successes plus that hitherto elusive World Cup triumph with Argentina that he sealed at the end of 2022, Messi's feats are not to be sniffed at.

He's done it all on an individual level and for his teams, which have been Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and, more recently, Inter Miami, as well as Argentina on the international scene, of course. Although his first taste of football was in the Newell's Old Boys academy in Rosario, he has only played professionally at club level in Europe and the United States.

But what about Messi's own personal footballing loves? The Sporting News reveals which teams are closest to his heart and the possibility he could tick them all off before he eventually retires.

When does Lionel Messi's 2024 season begin with Inter Miami?

Born in Rosario, in Sante Fe, Argentina, Messi's first club as a very young boy was Grandoli, a local side he joined at the age of four that was coached by his father. His dream growing up was to play for Rosario's main professional team and the team he supported, which was Newell's Old Boys —who soon picked him up at the age of six.

Given Messi supported Newell's like many of his friends and peers, joining their academy was an accomplishment in itself. Reports say he scored almost 500 goals over a six- or seven-year period, as a member of 'The Machine of '87', the all-conquering youth team named after the year in which the players were born.

Messi was signed by Barcelona at the age of just 13 and, in