adidas Samba "What The Messi"

The adidas Samba x Lionel Messi collection is a series of lifestyle/casual sneakers built on adidas Originals' classic Samba (and Samba Indoor) silhouette, personalized for Lionel Messi with colorways, materials, and iconography that reference his career, national team, and club history. It is explicitly a street/casual shoe, not a football boot — it uses the low-profile suede-and-leather Samba trainer shape (soft gum or rubber cupsole, suede T-toe overlay, serrated Three Stripes) rather than the studded, performance-engineered construction of Messi's on-pitch signature boots (the adidas F50 line). The collection is produced by adidas Originals/adidas Football in partnership with Messi as part of his long-running, near two-decade endorsement relationship with the brand, and it marks the first dedicated line of Messi-branded Samba colorways since a one-off 2012 pair designed by adidas Originals' Vincent Etcheverry.

The collection is culturally notable for two reasons. First, it rode the wider 2023–2024 wave of Samba/Gazelle popularity as adidas Originals' retro terrace-shoe silhouettes became one of the biggest trends in sneaker culture, meaning a "Messi Samba" landed at the peak of the style's mainstream demand. Second, its unofficial nickname — "What The Messi" — did not originate with adidas at all. It was popularized by a fan-made custom shoe, and the name stuck so firmly in sneaker media coverage that outlets including SoccerBible and Sportskeeda used it as shorthand for the entire official collection, even though adidas's own marketing refers to the shoes simply as the "Lionel Messi x Samba" or "Lionel Messi x Samba OG/Indoor" line.

• January 9, 2024: The first leaked/preview images of official Messi-branded Samba colorways circulated online and were picked up by Hypebeast, SoccerBible, and Complex, roughly a month before any formal adidas confirmation. Two prototype colorways were shown: a white leather pair with blue laces/tongue/lining/Three Stripes, gold heel and "MESSI" text, and a debossed Messi logo; and a white leather pair with purple Three Stripes and heel, a neon-green Messi logo on the tongue, and a gum sole.
• January 12, 2024: SoccerBible published "adidas To Release A 'Messi' Samba," noting adidas had not yet officially confirmed the shoe and referencing the brand's 2012 Messi Samba by designer Vincent Etcheverry as the precedent for this release.
• February 14, 2024: Independent Buenos Aires-based sneaker customizer Andrés Salerno (known as Stepkicks / DJ Stepwise) met Messi in Miami and hand-delivered custom "What The Messi" adidas Sambas, hand-painted with colors and iconography from every club Messi has played for (Newell's Old Boys, Barcelona, Argentina, PSG, Inter Miami), his number 10, World Cup imagery, and his children's names.
• February 16, 2024: Stepkicks' custom "What The Messi" Samba (itself inspired by Nike's "What The" Dunk concept, and a follow-up to an earlier "What The Messi" custom Nike SB Dunk Low he made in December 2023) was publicly unveiled via social media, beating the official adidas release to market and cementing the "What The Messi" nickname in sneaker press coverage of the whole line.
• February 20, 2024: adidas officially released the debut Messi Samba colorway — a white-and-blue design inspired by the Argentina national team, with gold accents referencing the 2022 World Cup win — priced at $100, sold via adidas's website while supplies lasted.
• April 4, 2024: Sneaker News and other outlets reported on the forthcoming "Inter Miami CF" Samba pack (Home and Away colorways), tied to Messi's move to Inter Miami CF, with a $100 / £100 price point confirmed and international (UK) availability arriving ahead of the US drop.
• May 29, 2024: The "Inter Miami CF Home Kit" colorway (style code IH8158, Light Pink/Core Black/Gum) released in the US via adidas.com, timed to Messi's ongoing MLS season with Inter Miami.
• Mid-2024: The corresponding "Inter Miami CF Away Kit" Samba Indoor (style code IH8157, black upper with pink Three Stripes and heel accents, translucent gum sole) also released.
• June 2024 (reported): The "Black/Gold" colorway, later associated with the "Triunfo Dorado" ("Golden Triumph") naming used elsewhere in the Messi adidas ecosystem, released under style code IH8159 (Core Black/Metallic Gold/Gum), around $100, in adult sizing, with kids' "J" (grade-school, style code JH5641) and "K" (younger kids, style code JR6349) versions also produced.
• October 10, 2024: The "Unity Purple Pack" released — an adult Samba OG (style code IH8161, Cloud White/Unity Purple/Gum) sold alongside a matching Messi F50 Freestyle 24 boot as a two-shoe pack, priced at $100. Some retailers (e.g., Unisport) list the same white/purple colorway under the name "Triunfo Estelar," indicating overlapping/alternate naming conventions used across different regions and retailers for the same or closely related purple colorway.
• Late 2024–early 2025: A "Cream White" (also reported as "Cream White/Light Brown") Samba Indoor colorway (style code JQ0266) was previewed by SNKRDUNK, House of Heat, and Highsnobiety, with reporting initially pointing to a small window around December 2024–February 2025 and later coverage (Sole Retriever, KicksOnFire, The Drop Date) pushing the confirmed release to Spring 2025 (multiple outlets cited a March 2025 window; House of Heat reported a February 1 date in some early coverage). This was covered by Highsnobiety under the headline "Messi & adidas Go Back to Basics for Their Cleanest & Creamiest Samba."
• Ongoing (2024–2025): Additional Samba colorways and kids'/grade-school variants continued to appear, including debossed Inter Miami Home and Away versions in kids sizing (e.g., style code JR0424, "Samba K – Inter Miami CF Debossed Home Kit") and a "Triunfo Dorado" kids "J" colorway (style code JH5641, black/gold-metallic/gum).

Confirmed colorways researched for this entry include:

• Debut "Argentina" colorway (released Feb. 20, 2024): White leather upper with blue Three Stripes, tongue, laces, and lining, plus gold heel accents referencing Argentina's 2022 World Cup win, and Messi's logo/number 10 identity front and center.
• "Inter Miami CF Home Kit" (IH8158, released May 29, 2024): Light Pink/Core Black/Gum — a pink leather upper echoing Inter Miami's home shirt, with Messi's emblem on the tongue, serrated Three Stripes, and a reinforced toe.
• "Inter Miami CF Away Kit" Samba Indoor (IH8157): Midnight black upper with pink accents on the heel cup and Three Stripes, translucent gum sole, and the Inter Miami club crest on the tongue.
• "Unity Purple Pack" (IH8161, released Oct. 10, 2024): Cloud White/Unity Purple/Gum — a white leather upper with unity-purple Three Stripes and heel tab, Lucid Lemon accents on the Messi logo and insole, gum sole; sold as part of a two-shoe pack with a matching Messi F50 Freestyle 24 boot. (Some retailers list this same white/purple aesthetic under the alternate name "Triunfo Estelar.")
• "Cream White" Samba Indoor (JQ0266): A cream/off-white leather upper with light brown/tan accents and gum sole, described by Highsnobiety as a "back to basics," minimalist take compared to the brighter club- and country-themed pairs.
• "Black/Gold" / "Triunfo Dorado" (adult IH8159): Core Black/Metallic Gold/Gum — black suede T-toe and leather upper with gold accents on the Three Stripes, heel tab, Samba branding, and Messi's tongue logo, plus gold-treated interior Three Stripes detailing.
• "Triunfo Dorado" kids versions: a grade-school "J" version (style code JH5641, Black/Gold Metallic/Gum) and a younger "K" version (style code JR6349), extending the Black/Gold theme to children's sizing.
• Kids "Inter Miami CF Debossed Home Kit" (K, style code JR0424): a debossed take on the pink Inter Miami home colorway scaled for kids/junior sizing, and a corresponding debossed Away Kit kids version was also referenced by retailers (style code JP7845 per GOAT listings).

Across colorways, recurring aesthetic threads are: gold detailing whenever the design references the 2022 World Cup; purple used specifically to nod to Argentina's gender-equality-themed away kit; pink and black used for Inter Miami; and Messi's personal logo/number 10 substituting for or supplementing standard Samba/adidas Originals branding.

Unlike a typical performance-boot launch, adidas did not lead this collection with a splashy ad campaign; press coverage frames it as a natural extension of Messi's long adidas partnership (reported by Sole Retriever as "nearly 20 years" as of the Unity Purple Pack release) into the booming retro-sneaker lifestyle category. The most culturally resonant storyline was not adidas-driven at all: Argentine sneaker customizer Andrés Salerno ("Stepkicks"), inspired by Nike's "What The" Dunk concept, hand-painted a one-off Samba blending elements from every club and country kit of Messi's career and personally delivered it to Messi in Miami on February 14, 2024. Messi reportedly reacted warmly, telling Salerno "Oh, wow... Those are really nice," and signed two pairs of Sambas plus nine photographs for Salerno's own line of customs. Because Salerno's viral "What The Messi" custom preceded and closely resembled early leaked images of the official adidas colorways, sneaker media (SoccerBible, Sportskeeda, and others) began using "What The Messi" informally to refer to the whole official Samba line, even though it originated as fan art rather than adidas's own campaign name.

Coverage from Highsnobiety characterized the shoes' design philosophy as intentionally understated — "It's not surprising to see Messi take a super straightforward approach with his Samba sneakers" — contrasting Messi's minimalist personal style with flashier signature-sneaker collaborations from other athletes. Outlets also emphasized that adidas notably did not charge a collaboration premium: the shoes retailed at the standard $100 Samba price point rather than at boosted "collab" pricing, which was seen as consistent with mass-market accessibility for Messi's enormous global fanbase. Demand and resale interest were strong enough that GOAT, StockX, and Flight Club all list multiple Messi Samba colorways (including kids' sizes) as active resale/marketplace listings, and several colorways (the Inter Miami packs in particular) received dedicated release-day coverage from Axios Miami, ClutchPoints, and Sports Illustrated's FanNation sneakers vertical, reflecting crossover interest from both sneakerheads and Inter Miami/MLS fans.