adidas Nemeziz Messi 19.1 "Ballon d'Or 2019"

The Adidas Nemeziz Messi 19.1 "Indigo/Green/Glory Purple" (widely nicknamed by the boot media as the "Ballon d'Or 2019" or "Ballon d'Or" edition) is a signature colorway of Lionel Messi's Nemeziz 19.1 boot that Adidas released in early December 2019, the day after Messi collected his record-breaking sixth Ballon d'Or award on December 2, 2019 in Paris. It is not an officially badged "commemorative" boot in the way Nike had produced gold-accented Ballon d'Or boots for Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modrić; rather, it was a scheduled seasonal colorway drop that the football-boot press quickly linked to the timing of Messi's award, and the "Ballon d'Or" nickname stuck in coverage and retail listings. It matters in Messi's boot history as the marker of the moment Adidas leaned into 2010-era nostalgia (referencing his F50 adiZero "Chameleon" boots from that year's Ballon d'Or-winning season) rather than creating an explicitly gold, trophy-themed boot, a decision that was itself the subject of some criticism and commentary at the time.

• December 2, 2019: Messi wins his sixth Ballon d'Or, becoming the outright record holder (surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo's five).
• December 3, 2019: Adidas releases the Nemeziz Messi 19.1 "Indigo/Green/Glory Purple" colorway, one day after the award ceremony, prompting immediate media speculation about a deliberate tie-in.
• December 2019 – January 2020: Messi wore the boots in domestic La Liga and Champions League fixtures for FC Barcelona during this stretch of the 2019–20 season.
• Available for pre-order at retailers such as Pro:Direct Soccer shortly after the announcement.

The boot uses the standard Nemeziz 19.1 platform introduced earlier in 2019: a "360 Agility" Tension Tape upper construction (sports-tape-inspired strips of fabric woven into the upper at varying widths and tensions to hug and flex with the natural shape of the foot), paired with a stretchy knitted collar for quick, sockless-feeling entry. The outsole is a split-plate design working with a Torsion System insole board to allow independent, torsional movement through the midfoot, intended to support explosive, multidirectional changes of direction. The stud configuration is arranged specifically to aid rapid acceleration and sharp turns on firm, natural grass. No new technology was introduced with this colorway specifically, it is a graphics/color update on the existing 19.1 chassis, in a laced, firm-ground (FG) build.

The boot's base is Tech Indigo (a deep navy-purple) combined with Glory Purple, with "Signal Green" (a bright volt/lime tone) used as an accent through the Three Stripes branding, Messi's logo, other logo details, and the stud tips. Sources describe the palette as intentionally reminiscent of Messi's 2010 F50 adiZero "Chameleon" boots (the boots he wore during the year of his first Ballon d'Or win as a fully-fledged Barcelona superstar), creating a deliberate visual callback across Messi's decade of individual awards rather than a literal gold trophy design.

Despite launching the day after Messi's historic sixth Ballon d'Or, Adidas did not frame this colorway as an explicit commemorative release: there was no gold detailing, no trophy iconography, and no on-boot reference to "6" or "Ballon d'Or" text. Footy Headlines and other outlets noted this contrast with Nike's more overt Ballon d'Or tribute boots for other players, and Footy Headlines even published a fan-made concept design in December 2019 (created by boot collector Josh Tossell) imagining what an official, more celebratory Adidas Ballon d'Or boot for Messi could have looked like: featuring an all-black upper, a subtly gold sole plate, the years of all six of Messi's Ballon d'Or wins, his number 10, the Argentine flag, and the names of his three sons. That concept was never produced or sold; it remained fan art highlighting the gap between the milestone and Adidas's comparatively understated commercial response. The genuine, released Adidas boot instead continued the brand's established practice of rotating Nemeziz colorways through the season regardless of individual accolades, with commentators suggesting Messi's achievement would nonetheless add sentimental value and collectibility to this particular pair after the fact.

Messi wore this colorway through December 2019 and into January 2020 as Barcelona pursued the La Liga title and continued their Champions League group-stage campaign. This period fell directly after his sixth Ballon d'Or win and before the COVID-19 disruption to the 2019–20 season later that spring. Specific goal-by-goal boot-spotting confirmation for every fixture in this colorway was not found in the sources reviewed, but it is documented as his active match boot for this window of the 2019–20 season.

Dropped the day after Messi's record sixth Ballon d'Or, this Indigo/Glory Purple 19.1 became the 'Ballon d'Or edition' by timing rather than design: no gold, no trophy iconography, just a color callback to his 2010 F50 adiZero Chameleon era. The boot press noticed the contrast with Nike's overt gold tributes for Ronaldo and Modrić, and a fan concept imagining a proper commemorative boot circulated within days. Underneath sits the well-reviewed Tension Tape 19.1 chassis, and the historic timing gives an otherwise standard retail colorway (one later found in clearance bins around £50) genuine sentimental collector appeal.