Lionel Messi didn't just bring his football to Miami — he brought his whole life with him. At the centre of that life is Antonela Roccuzzo, his wife, childhood friend, and the person who's been alongside him through every phase of what became the most decorated career in football history.
The two are Rosario natives who go back further than most couples can claim. Their friendship predates Messi's move to Barcelona at age 12, predates the six Ballon d'Ors, predates all of it. Messi publicly confirmed the relationship in January 2009, though they'd already been together since 2008. A month later, they appeared together at a carnival in Sitges following the Barcelona-Espanyol derby — low-key as public debuts go, which suited them both.
They married in 2017 in Rosario in what was, inevitably, one of the most talked-about weddings in Argentine sporting history. They have three sons together: Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro.
More than just Messi's wife
Roccuzzo's own career has moved well beyond the shadow of her husband's fame. In 2016, she signed a modelling contract with designer Ricky Sarkany. The following year, alongside Sofia Balbi — Luis Suárez's wife — she co-opened a Sarkany boutique in Barcelona. The store ran until Suárez left the club, at which point it closed. Short-lived, but it showed an appetite for building something independent.
She's since worked with Adidas and Stella McCartney on fitness-related campaigns, and has built an Instagram following of nearly 40 million — a platform in its own right, not just an extension of her husband's brand.
The move to Miami suited the family on multiple levels. The city's Latin culture made the transition easier than relocating to, say, Manchester or Munich might have. The Argentine Football Association even opened a regional office in Miami in December 2023, which says something about the gravitational pull Messi's presence has created in the city.
Roccuzzo had previously dropped out of an orthodontology postgraduate course in Rosario to be closer to Messi as his Barcelona career took off. That was the trade-off then. What she's built since suggests it wasn't a sacrifice so much as a redirection.
