How Lionel Messi decides who gets his shirt after a game

Martin Macdonald

• 25 Feb 2026 08:01 CST
• 3 min read

Nieuws

Some players are at a distinct advantage when it comes to being selected by Lionel Messi to receive his shirt at the end of a game.

The Argentine is a player many consider to be the greatest of all time so it's no surprise that there's a fight among opposition players to get their hands on his kit after the full-time whistle.

Messi says the first advantage is being Argentinian, then if it's a former team-mate asking and finally, simply those who are the quickest to ask.

“They ask me for shirts during the match, generally I swap with Argentines or with teammates I’ve had and then face," the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner said on Miro de Atrás' podcast.

"First with Argentines, and if not, with the first one who asks me. I had no problem and didn’t choose. It also happened that I had promised to change it and, if we lost, I left pissed off and didn’t change it."

There is only one player that Messi has actively looked to swap shirts with after a game and that man was Zinedine Zidane.

"I don't ask for shirts, I usually swap them, but I asked Zidane once," he told TyC Sports in 2017.

"If there is an Argentine I swap it with him, but, unless someone asks me, I'm not asking anyone."

They played each other only once in their careers when Messi's was lighting up and Zidane's was winding down.

It came in a La Liga match in 2005 as Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 3-0 at Santiago Bernabeu. It was a fixture famed for Ronaldinho's sublime performance which earned him a standing applause from the home crowd.

What is Messi's biggest regret?

As well as being one of the most talented, Messi is one of the most successful footballers of all time, winning eight Ballon d'Ors, four Champions League titles and 10 La Liga titles among plenty of other honours.

He does have some regrets, though, and wishes he has started to learn English as a youngster.

“I regret a ton of things. I tell my kids: getting a good education, not having learned English as a kid. I had time to study and I really regret it,” he confessed.

“Later you experience moments of being with important people; to be able to talk or have a chat and you feel kind of ignorant, you know? I say: ‘What an idiot, how I wasted time’.

“But football is a way of life, it gives you a lot of values, very strong bonds are formed, you get to know places, you travel… We had the chance to do everything and to give our best, but along the way you have experiences, learning; it also depends on the place you end up. Football educates you.”

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