adidas F50+

The adidas F50+ is the boot Lionel Messi was wearing at the exact moment his Nike era ended and his adidas era began. In February 2006, after months of negotiation (and a soured relationship with Nike over an unanswered gear request), Messi signed with adidas on a reported five-year deal worth around £400,000–£748,000 per year — a landmark moment that would eventually grow into the largest and longest athlete-boot partnership in football history. The F50+ was adidas's current-generation speed silo at the moment of signing: it was not built or designed for Messi, and he did not wear it for long, but it holds historical significance as the literal first pair of adidas boots he ever laced up as a sponsored athlete, worn for a brief window (reportedly February 2006) before adidas transitioned him into the newly unveiled, more technologically advanced +F50 TUNiT system in March 2006 ahead of that summer's World Cup.

• 2005: The F50+ (second generation of adidas's F50 line, following the original F50 launched before Euro 2004) was released at retail as adidas's flagship lightweight speed boot, featuring a redesigned "spider-web" style upper.
• February 2006: Messi officially signs with adidas. Archival boot-history records place him wearing the F50+ specifically in this month — his first pair of adidas boots as a contracted athlete, worn for match action in the immediate aftermath of the signing.
• March 2006: Messi transitions to the newly launched +F50 TUNiT system (unveiled by adidas on 31 January 2006 in Germany), specifically the F50.6 Tunit, ending his short spell in the F50+.

Because the F50+ was already an established retail product by the time Messi signed (rather than a boot launched specifically for him), there was no dedicated "unveiling" event tied to his adoption of it — his signing announcement was the news, not the boot itself.

The F50+ was the second generation of adidas's F50 speed-boot line, following the original 2004 F50 that had introduced the concept of a boot built purely around lightness and a clean striking surface (hidden-lace construction, minimal upper layering, interchangeable studs referencing the "Football 50" name — a nod to 1954, when West German players first used exchangeable studs). The F50+ built on that foundation with:

• A distinctive "spider-web" patterned upper, using a web-like overlay design across the sides of the boot for structure and support while keeping weight low.
• An improved lacing/cage system, using a TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) cage around the lace area to add stability and durability without significantly increasing weight versus the original F50.
• A detachable/customizable insole, allowing players to adjust fit and comfort — an early, simpler precursor to the fully modular TUNiT system adidas would launch just weeks after Messi signed.
• Continued use of adidas's synthetic, low-profile construction philosophy aimed at speed players, positioning the F50+ as adidas's answer to Nike's Mercurial line.

Because the F50+ was superseded so quickly by the TUNiT system in Messi's own boot rotation, detailed weight and pricing figures specific to the pair(s) he wore have not been documented in the sources reviewed; general retail specifications place it in line with other mid-2000s premium synthetic speed boots (typically in the 220–260 g range for boots of this generation and price tier).

Documented general F50+ retail colourways from this era include black/blue, white/red, white/black, and a champagne/gold-toned option, continuing the F50 line's typically bold, high-contrast aesthetic designed to stand out from adidas's more understated Predator and Copa Mundial ranges. No source consulted documents a bespoke, Messi-specific colourway for the F50+ — as a brand-new signee still establishing his profile at the club (he was 18 and yet to become an undisputed starter), Messi wore standard team/retail colourways rather than any personalized design, a pattern that would not change until adidas began building dedicated signature colourways around him later in the decade.

The real story of the F50+ in Messi's career isn't the boot itself — it's the deal that put it on his feet. By early 2006, Messi was one of the most coveted young players in world football, fresh off being named Player of the Tournament at the 2005 U-20 World Cup. Both Nike (his boot supplier since his Barcelona debut) and adidas pursued him for a personal contract. According to reporting drawn from Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World's Game, adidas's financial offer was strong, but the deciding factor was reportedly a relationship failure on Nike's side: Jorge Messi, Lionel's father and agent, had asked Nike's Spanish and Latin American offices for some additional gear — a request said to be worth only a few hundred dollars — and received no response. That silence damaged trust, and the Messi family finalized terms with adidas in February 2006.

Nike subsequently argued in Spanish courts that Messi remained contractually bound to them, but the court ruled that his original Nike arrangement was merely a non-binding "commitment letter," clearing the way for the adidas deal to stand. This dispute made the F50+ — however briefly worn — a symbol of one of the most consequential athlete-brand switches in sports marketing history, one that would eventually be valued at over $1 billion across Messi's lifetime adidas partnership.

No adidas ad campaign was built specifically around the F50+ and Messi; at this stage he was simply being fitted into adidas's existing product line as a newly signed player, with dedicated Messi-centric campaigns only emerging in subsequent years as his profile grew (culminating years later in bespoke colourways, personal logos, and eventually his own signature silo).

Specific, individually documented match appearances or goals in the F50+ are not detailed in the sources reviewed — the window in which Messi wore this boot (reportedly limited to February 2006, roughly one month) was brief and fell in a period of relatively sparse dedicated boot-spotting coverage. It should be noted this was also shortly before a serious hamstring/muscle injury sidelined Messi for parts of the 2005–06 season, which may have further limited his match minutes in this specific boot. His documented on-pitch legacy in adidas gear really begins with the +F50 TUNiT generation that followed almost immediately after.