Footballer Lionel Messi has been awarded the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports. The jury, chaired by swimmer Teresa Perales and composed of twelve other experts gathered on the morning of this Wednesday, chose the Argentine from twenty-seven candidacies from twelve nationalities for “his dazzling talent, his exceptional sports career, and his formidable and ongoing solidarity work to promote access to education and healthcare for the most disadvantaged children.”
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But Messi is not just that. The decision adds that the player trained in Barcelona’s youth academy “has also earned the respect and admiration of all for his exemplary behavior on the field and for his consistency, humility, and commitment to collective play.”
After the Creu de Sant Jordi in 2019, Spain once again elevates Messi. He is the eighth Argentine to travel to Oviedo. From Bunge to Sandra Díaz, the Argentine presence —and upcoming— runs through the Prince, now Princess, of Asturias awards with silent consistency. In 1982, Bunge in Communication and Humanities. In 1985, Alfonsín, International Cooperation, and also science, with Vázquez and Rosenblueth in Scientific and Technical Research. In 2002, Barenboim and Said, Concord. Then, Quino, Communication and Humanities, in 2014. Les Luthiers, the same category, in 2017. In 2019, Díaz, Scientific Research. And now Messi, Sports. The eighth. Different fields, one common thread: prestige. None, however, with the emotional and sporting bond Messi has with Spain.
In 2000, in an Argentina already smelling of crisis, Barcelona appeared. And with it, a double opportunity for a small Lionel —with a hormonal problem that the club took on— and for the whole family. “The day we left Argentina with a luggage of dreams and hopes, but also many fears, Lionel seemed to enjoy that trip. Surely, in his head, the only idea was to get to know, arrive, and stay in Barcelona. But I suppose the idea of succeeding in what he wanted most: football, was also beginning to take shape,” described Jorge, his father, about that exodus with Leo.
And how he achieved it. In 2004 he debuted with Barcelona’s first team. Seventeen years later, after a pact that Joan Laporta could not —or did not want to— maintain, Messi left the club and went to PSG. His legacy, in any case, is unprecedented: 778 matches, 672 goals, and 288 assists. And 35 titles: among them, ten Leagues and four Champions. The commitment to competition —to football— moved from Paris to Miami, always linked to the Argentine national team. Today he has 47 titles and aims for the 2026 World Cup, in the United States, Mexico, and Canada after having lifted the Cup in the last one, in Qatar 2022.
Leader of the Albiceleste as he once was of Barça, he is already in Kansas, where the Albiceleste works to defend the title won in Qatar 2022. He is about to play his sixth World Cup starting June 11 in the US, Mexico, and Canada and will break the record for World Cups played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) and Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico).
Messi left Spain, but never stopped thinking about Barcelona. “I really want to go there, we miss Barcelona a lot, the kids and my wife and I constantly talk about Barcelona, the idea of living there again,” says Messi. He does not deceive: he is preparing his return. In the last month, he bought UE Cornellà, a project that especially excited him, but he also expanded his assets in Barcelona, along with the Via Wagner galleries in Turó Park. An acquisition through his company, Socimi, which already controlled a building on Urgell street, next to Clínic. Now he adds another piece. Less brilliant. More strategic. Around him, other projects grow: MiM Hotels —Sitges, Ibiza, Mallorca, Baqueira, Sotogrande, Andorra—, operated by Meliá. And Hincha, with Nandu Jubany. Real estate, brand, and cuisine. And football. A diversified business for the Argentine who always had Spain in sight for his businesses, that is, for his future after retirement.
And Spain honors him with the Princess of Asturias. According to the Foundation’s regulations, this award is intended to distinguish “careers that, through the promotion, development, and perfection of sport and its social dimension, have become an example of the possibilities that sports practice entails for the benefit of human beings.” The award ceremony is held every October in Oviedo, in a solemn ceremony presided over by the Kings, along with the Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía. Each award includes a Joan Miró sculpture —symbol of the award—, a diploma, a badge, and a prize of 50,000 euros.
