Long before the trophies and the record-breaking Ballon d'Or count, there was a boy learning the game at a small youth club, and Messi, a 2022 documentary, builds its portrait of the Argentine forward from that starting point.
What is Messi about?
The film traces Lionel Messi's path from his earliest days in the Newell's Old Boys youth system to his rise as one of football's defining players, using archival footage and interviews to chart the distance between those two points. Rather than focusing on a single season or tournament, the documentary follows the arc of a career, touching on the milestones that built his reputation, including his fourth Ballon d'Or, a recognition that placed him among the most decorated players the sport has produced. Teammates, rivals, and commentators who watched his rise up close offer their own vantage points on what made him stand out, giving the film a chorus of voices rather than a single narrator's account.
About the cast
Lionel Messi is the film's central subject, appearing through match footage and interview material spanning his career. Cesc Fàbregas and Xavi, both former teammates who played alongside him, offer perspective from inside the dressing room, while commentator Gary Lineker provides outside context on his standing in the sport. Maxi López, Javier Mascherano, Pablo Zabaleta, and Lionel Scaloni round out the voices who knew him as a teammate, opponent, or coach at different points in his career. Director Barry Murphy weaves these accounts around Messi's own footage rather than a single guided narrative.
Context & significance
Produced in the United Kingdom, Messi sits within a wave of football documentaries built around archival access and firsthand testimony rather than dramatic reenactment. At 93 minutes, it favors breadth across a long career over a close, extended study of any single match, which suits a subject whose story spans two decades at the top of the sport. The biography and sports genres it draws on give the film a structure built for viewers who already know the name and want the fuller arc behind it.
Watching Messi on Ktime
Messi is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles, letting Farsi-speaking football fans follow the interviews and commentary without missing detail. Streaming requires only a free K-Time account and login, while the film's page itself can be read without one. K-Time's Farsi-first interface is designed for exactly this kind of English-language sports documentary, watched by an audience that follows the game closely in its own language.