Lionel Messi built his legendary career in Spain with Barcelona and became Argentina’s greatest football icon. However, new genealogy research has revealed the World Cup winner also has an unexpected connection with Brazil.
The discovery came after Italian historian and banker Fiorenzo Santini traced Messi’s family tree. His research found that Messi’s maternal ancestors lived in Brazil before eventually settling in Argentina.
Santini first investigated Messi’s Italian heritage. He discovered that Messi’s paternal great-great-grandfather, Angelo Messi, left Recanati in Italy’s Marche region and moved to Rosario, Argentina, in 1893.
Later, Santini turned his attention to Messi’s mother’s side of the family. He carried out the research to help document the family’s ancestry during an Italian citizenship application.
The study showed that Messi’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Raniero Cocchettini, and his wife Rosa Ricchezza travelled from Italy to Brazil aboard the ship Washington. They arrived at the Port of Santos on September 20, 1899. Their arrival remains recorded in the Immigration Museum of São Paulo.
After settling in São Paulo state, immigration officials changed parts of the family’s names and surnames. Such changes were common because officials often adapted foreign spellings and pronunciations.
Historical records show that Raniero became Ramiero Concettini. Later, the family surname gradually changed into Cuccittini, the surname carried by Messi’s mother, Celia María Cuccittini.
Santini also found that Messi’s great-grandfather, Federico Cuccittini, was born in Brazil in 1904. One year later, the family moved to Rosario, where they built a new life.
Several generations of Messi’s family were then born in Argentina. Those included his maternal grandfather Antonio Cuccittini, his mother Celia María Cuccittini and, finally, Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini, who was born on June 24, 1987.
The researcher said the unusual Cuccittini surname led him to the breakthrough. He could not find the surname anywhere in Italy. Later, documents provided by one of Messi’s maternal relatives confirmed the family name had changed after their arrival in Brazil.
Santini spent three years, from 2019 to 2022, completing Messi’s maternal family tree. His work later earned official recognition from the Italian municipality of San Severino Marche, which granted Messi honorary citizenship in 2022.
The findings have sparked plenty of light-hearted reactions in Brazil. Many supporters have shared edited images of Messi wearing the famous yellow shirt. Others have joked that Brazilian football history might have been very different had his family never left the country.
