What Is Lionel Messi’s Height?

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Because Lionel Messi is referred to as the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) of football, he is one of the most regularly discussed players. His height, in particular, has been of interest to sports fans. People want to know what Messi’s height is and how this has helped him become the greatest player of all time.

In this article, we’re going to discuss this, exploring the benefits of his height, his experience with Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD), how his height compares to other elite players and more.

How Tall is Messi?

Messi’s height is 1.69 m, which is just under 5 feet and 7 inches, and is 169 cm. Although he is a relatively short player, the forward has used his height to his advantage to become the greatest footballer of all time.

Lionel Messi and Growth Hormone Deficiency

When Messi was 11 years old, he almost joined River Plate, however his medical at the club revealed that he had barely grown in height over the last 24 months. Messi was 4 feet and 4 inches at the time, and the doctor conducting his medical predicted that he would only grow a further three inches in the future.

Because of this diagnosis, Messi didn’t move to River Plate, and remained at Newell’s Old Boys. He underwent lots of medical tests during the following 12 months. After a year of tests had passed, Messi’s doctor, Dr. Diego Schwarzstein, diagnosed the Argentine with Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD).

If Messi wanted to make it as a professional footballer, he had to strongly consider having GHD treatment to increase his height. He, of course, opted to do this, and the treatment required Messi to give himself daily injections in both of his legs. It’s even been stated that Messi would have visible marks on his legs from all the injections he had to administer.

This treatment was not cheap either, as the estimated monthly cost was around $900 each month. Jorge Messi, Lionel’s father, was a factory worker, so this sum of money was a strain on the family’s monthly resources.

By the year 2000, Lionel Messi had signed for Barcelona, and the La Liga club paid for the remainder of his GHD treatment and housed Messi and his family together in Spain. Because of the treatment, Messi grew taller and reached 5 feet and 7 inches, meaning he became the optimal height for the type of player that he is.

The Benefits of Messi’s Height

Although Lionel Messi is a small footballer, there are some benefits to his height that have helped him become one of the greatest players ever – these include dribbling, acceleration, a low centre of gravity and impressive upper body strength.

Dribbling

It’s been well documented that one of Messi’s best traits is his dribbling ability. This is something that his shorter height might help with. Being a shorter footballer means that Messi can maintain great balance while dribbling. It also means that he is able to quickly change direction, and rarely falls over or loses his balance in the process.

Acceleration

Another benefit of Messi’s height is his acceleration. Being shorter, most likely, means that you have shorter legs and this allows someone to build up greater acceleration over short distances. Messi is able to produce high acceleration in football matches, and this, combined with his elite dribbling ability, can be frightening for opposition players to face.

Low Centre of Gravity

Messi’s shorter height means that he has a low centre of gravity, too, but why is this a benefit? Well, having a low centre a gravity means that a footballer is closer to the ground, and this aids their ability to keep excellent balance.

Furthermore, players with a low centre of gravity can both accelerate and decelerate really well, and have the ability to anticipate changes in motion. This can also mean that the player is incredibly strong and hard to push off of the ball. Messi has shown all of these qualities throughout his career, and his height has been a major factor in this.

Upper Body Strength

Another benefit of Messi’s shorter height is impressive upper body strength. This is a result of having a low centre of gravity and brilliant balance, and shorter players will use their upper body strength to their advantage while dribbling.

Defenders will often find it harder to push small players off of the ball due to these combining factors. Although Messi isn’t the strongest player in the world, his upper body strength is still a benefit.

An example of a shorter player having significant upper body strength would be Adama Traoré.

Shot Precision

There is an argument that being shorter can also help footballers have greater shot precision on the pitch. This stems from the idea that shorter players find it easier to “unify” with the ball when shooting or passing, having more control over the way they move both their foot and body during the movement.

Messi’s shooting technique is undisputable, but there’s no doubt that shooting practice comes into this discussion too, and it’s safe to say that Messi has done his fair share of shooting practice over the years.

How Does Messi’s Height Compare to Other Football Players?

So how tall is Messi in comparison to other elite football players? We’re going to compare the Argentine’s height against his rival Cristiano Ronaldo, fellow Argentinian legend Diego Maradona and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.

Messi’s Height vs Cristiano Ronaldo

When comparing Lionel Messi’s height against Cristiano Ronaldo’s, Messi is the shorter player. This is common knowledge and can easily be seen when watching games on television. Cristiano Ronaldo’s height is 1.89 m, 0.20 m taller than Lionel Messi.

Messi’s Height vs Diego Maradona

An elite player, who is shorter than Messi, is fellow Argentine Diego Maradona. It’s well known that Messi and Maradona had a close relationship, as Messi is the Godfather of Sergio Aguero’s son and Diego Maradona’s grandson, Benjamin Aguero.

Maradona is 1.65 m tall, which is 4 cm shorter than Messi. It’s interesting that these two players were so similar in height and had similar skill sets.

Messi’s Height vs Mohamed Salah

Another player that has a similar profile to Messi is Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian winger is a player who can dribble at pace, has a low centre of gravity and has impressive upper body strength too, but is he taller than Lionel Messi? The answer is yes.

At 1.75 m tall, Salah is 6 cm taller than Messi, so there’s not much between the two of them.

Is Messi Good in the Air?

Something that’s not often discussed is Messi’s heading ability, so we’re asking, is Messi good in the air? People might presume that because of his smaller height, Messi is weak in the air. Yes, his height makes it harder for him to challenge other players aerially, but he might be strong in the air when uncontested.

Let’s look a little closer at Messi goal scoring stats. As of November 2022 when he scored his 700th career goal, the Argentine had scored the following goals by body-part:

• Left foot – 582 goals
• Right foot – 92 goals
• Header – 24 goals
• Other – 2 goals

24 headed goals out of 700 is a rate of 0.03%, this in comparison to a taller, similar player, like Cristiano Ronaldo is a low percentage. In December 2022, Ronaldo famously became the player with the most headed goals in the 21st century, scoring 112. With Cristiano being renowned for his aerial prowess, it’s not surprising to see this statistics.

Although Messi rarely scores headed goals, he did score with his head in the 2009 UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United. He scored to make it 2-0 to Barcelona, which sealed the trophy during Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning season.

Watch this rare headed Messi goal here:

Lionel Messi’s Nicknames

During his life, Messi has been given a series of nicknames. During his childhood, Messi’s three siblings gave him the nickname “La Pulga” or “La Pulgita” and this translates to “The Flea” in English. This was a direct reference to his small height.

This nickname would sometimes change to “La Pulga Atomica”, and this means “The Atomic Flea”. 

Messi regularly found himself being the smallest player on his team. This was because of his GHD condition and the fact he was playing in teams way above his age group due to his impressive skill set. This meant that his height was even more of a talking point during his youth.

Conclusion

Considering Lionel Messi is a relatively short footballer, it’s clear that his height hasn’t hindered him throughout his professional career. Although there were some concerns during his early years, Growth Hormone Deficiency treatment has helped Messi grow to a competitive height of 1.69 m.

His height compliments his playing style in many ways, helping him to dribble and change directions at high speeds, as well as having impressive upper body strength. Some experts argue that Messi is the ‘perfect height’ for a footballer, and it’s clear to see the reasons why.

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