"Inside my house, I am a very normal person, like anybody else." That's Lionel Messi describing home life in February 2025 — the same man who lifted the World Cup in Qatar, who scored twice in the final against France, who stood on that pitch afterwards with two of his sons clinging to him in Inter Miami jerseys, number 10 on their backs.
The image said everything. Family isn't a footnote to Messi's career — it runs parallel to it.
He and Antonella Roccuzzo have three sons: Thiago, now 13, Mateo, 10, and Ciro, 8. All three are active in the Inter Miami CF Academy. None of them chose that path by accident.
Three kids, three different players
Messi has actually scouted his own children with the same analytical eye he brings to opponents. "Thiago is more thoughtful, more organized, more of a midfielder. Mateo is more of a forward, he likes to score goals and be close to the goal, he is intelligent to play. Ciro is more explosive, more one-on-one. More of making his own play."
That's not a proud father reaching for compliments. That's a footballer describing footballers.
Thiago came first — born November 2012, the kid who Messi said changed his life more than any Ballon d'Or. He came through Barcelona's academy, then PSG's, and joined Inter Miami's under-12 squad in 2023. Mateo arrived in September 2015 and is the competitive one — he left the stadium in tears after Argentina's shock loss to Saudi Arabia at the 2022 World Cup. Messi said it plainly: "Mateo is the same as me when I was little, he doesn't like to lose anything."
Then there's Ciro, the youngest, born March 2018. He went viral in May 2026 after giving a post-match interview to Inter Miami's press team following his U8 side's championship win — a game in which he scored twice. Asked about the victory, he said in Spanish that they played well and advanced "because we listened to the coach." Eight years old. Already media-trained by osmosis.
The weight of the name
Growing up as Messi's son carries an obvious burden. The name alone sets an unreachable benchmark before you've laced your first boot. To their credit, none of them appear to be carrying it badly — partly because Messi has been deliberate about not projecting his ambitions onto them.
"I want my sons to do what makes them happy," he told ESPN in October 2022, "whether that involves soccer or not."
Whether they stick with it long-term is anyone's guess. But right now, all three are in the system, all three are developing, and the youngest one is already giving press conferences. The apple, as they say, hasn't fallen far.
