On this day 21 years ago, Lionel Messi made his debut for Barcelona

Rajarshi has been part of Khel Now since 2022, and he covers world football.

Published at :October 16, 2025 at 11:24 PM

Modified at :October 16, 2025 at 11:24 PM

(Courtesy : LaLiga Content Hub)

On this day, Messi made his debut and changed the history of Barcelona football.

21 years ago, on this day, Lionel Messi made his debut for FC Barcelona and went on to create history, setting and breaking records. He achieved an unprecedented success at the club and left a lasting impression.

Every great tale has a beginning, and today marks the precise 21st anniversary of Leo Messi’s debut with Barcelona. A 17-year-old athlete participated in the official game for the first time.

Unaware of everything that was ahead, Messi made his LaLiga debut with Barcelona, wearing the number 30 against Espanyol and replacing Deco, who is currently the team’s sporting director.

21 years ago, a 17-year-old Lionel Messi made his Barcelona debut. The rest is history 🥺 pic.twitter.com/LOY9CEs5wy
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 16, 2025

Although it may have taken him time to burst onto the scene for the club, when he exploded, he never looked back. The player gave the football fans plenty of memories to cherish to date.

Messi set an exceptionally high bar for Barcelona players

Lionel Messi Getty — Messi is currently enjoying playing the beautiful game at Inter Miami CF (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)

He ultimately went on to play in 520 LaLiga games and score 474 goals, which would make him the league’s all-time best scorer. In addition, with 192 assists and 36 hat-tricks, he was the player with the most assists in history.

Eight times as the league’s leading scorer and 10 LaLiga titles overall. Every tale has a beginning, and Messi’s in LaLiga started precisely twenty-one years ago.

These records speak for themselves as to how Lionel Messi set such a huge benchmark at the club. It will take a beating to break his record at Barcelona for any player who would think of doing it.

His time at the club since his debut was filled with ups and downs. But he always gave the fans something to look forward to whenever he was on the pitch.

He departed on an unfortunate note, but his legacy lives on in the club’s memories. Since he is the best player the team has ever had, hopefully, they will be able to give him the send-off he deserves.

When did Messi make his Barcelona debut?

On October 16, 2004, he made his debut.

How old was Messi when he made his debut?

He was 16 years old when he made his debut.

When did he leave Barcelona?

He left the club in 2021 after they failed to extend his contract due to the club’s economic crisis.

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Rajarshi Shukla

After earning a bachelor's degree in mass media, Rajarshi began his career as a sports writer in 2019, driven by his passion for sports journalism. He has been working in the field for over six years. A devoted fan of Lionel Messi and Barcelona, Rajarshi has been involved in sports since childhood. Before turning his focus to journalism, he even represented his college at the state level. Along with covering football, he enjoys playing the game, watching movies, and experimenting with new recipes in his spare time, as cooking is one of his favorite hobbies.