Mundial, Issue 24: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – Messi

Mundial is the number one multi-platform choice for the intelligent football fan.

Exploring the intersection between sport and culture, our work is sharp, funny, stylish, irreverent, and nostalgic — it speaks directly to its audience because it knows who they are and what they want. Rooted in authentic fan culture, it knows who they support, what they wear, where they drink, and where they want to go next. Mundial celebrates their heroes, teaches them about wider issues, makes them laugh (and occasionally cry). It takes them around the world and ends up on their doorstep. It’s created for them, by them. It reminds them why they love football.

In this issue:

Remember when Messi arrived in the Barcelona team, riding on Ronaldinho’s shoulders with a massive smile on his face and 19 on his back? That’s the Messi we went in search of. The boy before the man. We tracked down the coach who signed him on a napkin, visited a La Masia graduate who idolised him, and the fans who still get goosebumps talking about the first time they saw him playing for the youth team.

The issue also features history’s most chaotic teams, fan tattoos, 100 years of virtual reality hurt and more. If you chose the Maradona cover, your magazine will contain the other cover stories on Ronaldo Nazário, Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, and Erling Haaland.