There's now a plant named after Messi

The naming was reported by The Athletic on 17 October 2026, which confirmed the species carries Messi's name and a colour scheme that reads like a tribute lifted straight from Argentina's shirt. No club crest required, no sponsor logo, just petals that happen to match the stripes.

Details on the botanists behind the discovery, the institution that classified it, or exactly where the plant was found haven't been made public yet. What's known is the headline fact itself: a species in the Salvia genus, now permanently tagged with Messi's name in the scientific record.

Why this one lands differently

Footballers get stands named after them, statues built of them, stadiums renamed in their honour. A plant is a different category of tribute entirely. There's no unveiling ceremony, no ribbon to cut, just a taxonomic entry that will outlive every one of Messi's trophies in the way these things tend to.

Messi, now 39 and playing his football at Inter Miami, has spent two decades turning his name into shorthand for footballing genius. Salvia messii doesn't add to that on the pitch, but it's the kind of honour that only gets handed to someone whose cultural footprint has wandered a long way past the touchline.

The Argentina connection

The light blue and white isn't a coincidence anyone's trying to hide: it's the entire point. Messi delivered Argentina's third World Cup in Qatar in 2022, ending a wait that had stretched back to 1986, and he's racked up 204 caps and 125 goals for the national team along the way. A flower wearing the albiceleste colours is about as on-the-nose a tribute as botany gets, and it works precisely because of that.

Whether the plant was found in Argentina, named by Argentine researchers, or simply chosen for its colour palette remains unclear from what's been reported. Either way, it's now stuck with Messi's name for good, which is more than can be said for most football records.