MLS

Who is Antonela Roccuzzo? All you need to know about Lionel Messi’s wife

Antonella made the move from the French capital to South Florida following the news that Leo would play for MLS team Inter Miami.

STEPHANIE LECOCQREUTERS

Leo Messi’s time in European football recently came to an end. The soccer super star now plays for Inter Miami and tonight is in Paris to receive what could be his 8th Ballon d’Or. Messi moved to FC Barcelona as a 12-year-old and enjoyed a successful spell with the Catalan side winning countless silverware before Barça’s financial complications prompted him to move to Paris in 2021.

Messi joined MLS side Inter Miami in July. The family have adjusted to life in Miami and feel at home with the city oozing Latin culture and with the Argentine FA set to open a regional office in the city immently.

Lionel Messi of Argentina chats with his wife Antonella Roccuzzo Lionel HahnGetty

The Rosario native is a model and businesswoman and has been in a relationship with Lionel Messi since 2008 although she and the PSG star are childhood friends. Roccuzzo dropped out of a postgraduate course in university in Rosario in orthodontology to move closer to the striker as his career with FC Barcelona started to flourish.

Messi first confirmed their romance in an interview in January 2009, before going public a month later during a carnival in Sitges after the Barcelona–Espanyol derby with the couple officially tying the knot at a lavish wedding reception in Rosario back in 2017.

Messi and Roccuzzo have three sons: Thiago (born 2012), Mateo (age 7) and Ciro (age 4).

Businesswoman

In 2016, Roccuzzo announced that she signed a modeling contract with designer Ricky Sarkany and a year later Roccuzzo and friend Sofia Balbi (Luis Suárez’s wife) opened Barcelona’s boutique for the Argentinean footwear brand Sarkany with the store closing down two years later as Suarez moved on from FC Barcelona.

Rocuzzo has also worked with several fitness brands and companies including Adidas and Stella McCartney and boasts of more than 35 million followers on her Instagram account.

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