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Lionel Messi, one of the greatest football players of all time, shared his favorite goal from his illustrious career. The most cherished goal of all was dubbed by the renowned Argentine striker, who was one of the top scorers in both club and international football. Messi referred to the header he scored to win FC Barcelona the 2009 UEFA Champions League title against Manchester United as his personal favorite when reflecting on his 2022 World Cup-winning goal.

When Messi joined the Inter Miami CF Foundation’s “A Goal in Life” charity initiative, he told ESPN, “I had many goals that are perhaps even more beautiful and of enormous value, also because of their importance, but the header in the Champions League final against Manchester United was always my favorite.”

On May 27, 2009, Messi’s header secured Barcelona’s 2-0 win against the Red Devils under Pep Guardiola at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, making it one of the most iconic goals in Champions League history. Messi considered the goal, which is approaching its 16th anniversary, to be the most memorable of his illustrious career. The superstar has scored over 800 goals for Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami, and Argentina.

The ball was pushed beyond goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar by the iconic header, which saw the 5’7″ Messi jump higher than Rio Ferdinand, a former defender for United, to meet Xavi’s cross. Messi had pleasant memories of the occasion. “With Ferdinand standing close by, it was difficult to think that I would score with my head, but I didn’t really have a marker — the ball came into the center and I was there to meet it,” he recounted.

Messi’s strike was crucial to Barcelona’s football history since it guaranteed the team a season-long treble. It was a really significant objective for the team, for the way the final was going our way, and for me personally. “It remains one of my favorite objectives,” he said.

Now, renowned artist Refik Anadol will immortalize the goal by transforming it into a one-of-a-kind digital artwork. Artificial intelligence will be used by Anadol to produce an artwork that most accurately depicts Messi’s game-winning goal. The goal’s audiovisual rights have already been provided by UEFA, and thousands of data points from the game will be utilized to create the artwork.

The item will be put up for charity auction, and the money raised will support UNICEF-led educational projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. The official debut will take place on June 11 on Christie’s website, and the artwork will be open for public display in New York from July 15 to 21. The Messi artwork is up for online auction until July 25.