Updated August 5, 2026 at 6:49 PM PDT
ROSARIO, Argentina — In La Bajada, the working-class Rosario neighborhood where Lionel Messi grew up, fans from around the world now stop outside his modest two-story childhood home to leave flags, messages and tributes to the soccer star.
The metal fence is covered with flags left behind by visitors from all over the world. On some of the flags, visitors have written messages thanking Messi for being the "greatest" ever, or for demonstrating that dreams can be achieved with "humility and hard work."
"It's beautiful," said Nathan Shanely, a traveler from Michigan who stopped by the home to take some photos. "To see the hope and the joy that one man has been able to bring through the game, when you read these flags, is just absolutely beautiful."
Messi, who led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title and back to this year's World Cup final, where Argentina lost to Spain, has become the centerpiece of Rosario's effort to reinvent itself as a tourist destination.
Just a few years ago, Rosario, a city of about 1 million people in central Argentina, was known more for drug violence than tourism.
But Rosario officials hope to change that image with the help of its most famous native son, as the city tries to position itself as a destination for international travelers.
"We may not have the tallest mountain here or the most famous beach," said Bruno Rearte, the director of Ente Turistico Rosario, an agency that promotes the city. "But we have Messi, and he is helping to introduce us to the world."
Rosario is located in the Pampa, the vast grassland that covers much of central Argentina. It was built along the Paraná River, one of the longest in South America.
The city has long been an important port for beef and soy exports. But Rosario's location along a major shipping route has also made it a coveted spot for drug traffickers.
Three years ago, a war broke out between rival gangs. They shot and kidnapped civilians as they tried to assert territorial control.
"We had journalists from Buenos Aires wearing bulletproof vests as they did live shots from the center of the city," Rearte recalled. "It was quite a difficult period."
But in recent years, Rosario has lowered its crime rate by making prisons more secure — cutting off communication between jailed mafia bosses and their underlings.
Argentina's government has also sent hundreds of federal police officers to Rosario, where they currently patrol the city center and some of the neighborhoods on the outskirts that have been affected by drug violence.
As the city cracks down on crime, it is also trying to reinvent itself, and at the center of that effort is Lionel Messi, who lived in Rosario until he was 13.
All around Rosario there are colorful murals of Argentina's captain. There are also signs marking places that were important to his childhood, including his former home in La Bajada and Club Atlético Grandoli, the neighborhood club where Messi first began playing soccer.
A sign outside Grandoli explains that Messi played his first match by accident at age 4. He was pulled from the stands because his older brother's team — a squad of 8-year-olds — was missing a player. "The young star had an outstanding game and even scored the winning goal," the sign reads.
Visitors are also reminded of a turning point in Messi's childhood: at age 13, he left Rosario for Spain to join Barcelona's youth academy, beginning the path that would make him one of the world's most famous athletes.
Alejandro Di Ponti, a tour guide in Rosario, said Messi has helped put the city on the map because he also spends his vacations in Rosario and even got married in the city. He said foreign visitors started asking about Messi landmarks after Argentina won the 2022 World Cup — and that interest has remained strong ever since.
"In the past many people who visited Argentina would skip Rosario," Di Ponti said. "But now they might come on day trips from Buenos Aires or stay for a couple of nights."
Visitors can follow Messi's footsteps through a city tourism app that maps sites from his childhood, or join guided Messi-themed tours.
"Every day I get two or three people asking about the Messi route," Di Ponti said.
As more people stop in Rosario, officials are also trying to highlight some of the area's other attractions.
Those include an annual rock festival held in October and a waterfront where old warehouses have been turned into art galleries.
Rearte described Rosario as "a walkable city." It is dotted with cozy cafes and pedestrian boulevards lined with late 19th-century buildings.
"We are small," said the tourism promoter. "But we can also offer everything a big city has to offer."
But rebuilding Rosario's image won't happen overnight.
"It's taken some time for people to trust our city again," said Flor Wolf, the owner of a hostel in the city center.
She hopes visitors will come to see a different side of Rosario — not only the places that shaped Lionel Messi, but the community that shaped him.
"You're going to feel happy here," she said. "Even Messi spends his vacations in this town."
Copyright 2026 NPR