Lionel Messi's WAG has new intimate tattoo and fans are convinced of its meaning (2024)

Antonela Roccuzzo showed off a new tattoo which has got footballing fans worldwide eager to know its meaning, with some claiming that the poignant mark is a tribute to husband Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi's wife Antonela Roccuzzo has had fans speculating the meaning behind an intimate tattoo that she has showed off on social media.

The 36-year-old and Messi tied the knot at a lavish ceremony which was dubbed Argentina's 'wedding of the century' at the City Centre Hotel and Casino of Rosario in Lionel's hometown back in 2017. And since moving to the United States in 2023 – after Messi signed a contract with Inter Miami – the couple have been incredibly active on social media, sharing snaps with followers of their family life with three sons, Thiago, Mateo and Ciro.

Earlier this week, Antonela took to Instagram to share a snap of a summer cruise with her hubby and three boys, captioned: "Verano y ellos", which translates to 'summer and them'. Antonela sported a pink bikini as she posed with her shirtless beau and three boys in front of a picture-perfect horizon – but it wasn't just the views which had people talking in the comments.

Roccuzzo has a number of visible tattoos – including Thiago and Matteo's names on her hands and Ciro's name on her wrist. But fans of the footballing family were intrigued by a piece of artwork which the WAG has adorned on her ribs.

As seen in the second and third snaps of the photo carousel shared with 40million followers, Roccuzzo has 'Leo' tattooed on her side in tribute to her husband and childhood sweetheart. And fans of the power couple were quick to take to the social media to point out the mark, one writing on X: "She has his name tattooed on her. God, country and family!"

Another, added: "Half the country has a Messi tattoo just the same," adding: "They are together since high school, they are married and they have three kids," while a third penned: "Well, this is only valid if you are married to Messi himself." Both Antonella and Lionel have a number of tattoos in common.

Both of them have crowns tattooed on the inside of their arms, and on their ring fingers, they have the date of their wedding. Messi has a kiss from his wife tattooed on his lower abdomen in red ink, and his children's names and dates of birth on his leg.

Elsewhere, Antonela has a butterfly on her wrist, a palm tree on the inside of her arm, flowers on her foot and a golden snitch on the back of her arm – a nod to her massive fandom towards Harry Potter. Messi and Roccuzzo met when they were both nine at a cousin of Antonella's home in Argentina.

Speaking about their first encounter, Lionel told the Willing to Everything podcast: "I used to go to her house because of her cousin and that’s where I met her, when we were very young. I always liked her." However, the pair briefly lost contact with one another when Messi made the move from Newell's Old Boys to Barcelona at the age of 13.

He added: "Then at 13 years old I went to Spain and we kind of lost contact. Communication was much more difficult than now. It was through letters, emails or some international phone calls which were expensive. So we stopped talking and distanced ourselves a lot."

The pair would reconnect in their late teenage years, before starting to date as Messi approached his twenties. Antonella moved to Barcelona to be with her beau, before welcoming their first son, Thiago, in November 2012. Second son Matteo came in September 2015, while Ciro arrived in March 2018.

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.