adidas X

Messi's X-era signature colorways run from June 2021 to February 2024; he kept playing in X Crazyfast until adidas moved him to the revived F50 in mid-2024. It is the shortest of his major boot eras and, by some distance, the most eventful one. He left Barcelona in an X. He won a World Cup in an X. He signed for Inter Miami in an X, and adidas marked his eighth Ballon d'Or with a pair of them. Then the line was shut down.

This page covers the ten X-era signature colorways that have their own pages on this site, generation by generation, with what each boot actually was and what the retail figures were at launch. It is not a complete census of the era - adidas also put out X Speedflow Messi colorways in 2021 ("Numbersup" and "Unparalleled") that are not covered here. Where sources disagree on a price, we say so rather than picking one. Where we could not verify a figure at all, it is not on the page.

What the X line was

X was adidas's speed boot. It arrived in 2015-16 and ran for roughly eight years before being retired; Footy Headlines described the F50 "Fast Reborn" launch in May 2024 as ending an eight-year X era.

The shorthand you'll often see - that X became adidas's speed line "after Nemeziz was retired" - gets the sequence slightly wrong, and it's worth untangling because it explains Messi's arrival. X was already the speed silo. Nemeziz, launched in 2017, was a separate agility and "bandage-fit" line, and Messi was its headline athlete. In October 2020 Footy Headlines reported that adidas would discontinue Nemeziz and run just three silos - Copa, Predator and X - from summer 2021, with Messi switching to the X Speedflow. That's the context for the name of his first X colorway.

X Speedflow (2021-22)

The Speedflow replaced the X Ghosted as the platform, and it's where Messi's X run begins.

X Speedflow Messi "El Retorno" (4 June 2021) marked his return to adidas's speed silo after roughly four years on Nemeziz, and it doubled as a 15-year marker for the adidas partnership that began in 2006. The design looked backwards: Footy Headlines describes it as a tribute to Messi's first adidas boots, the 2006 F30 Tunit, in a colorway drawn from the pair he wore for his 2007 goal against Getafe.

Worth keeping straight, because two boots two years apart both say "15 years": the 2019 Nemeziz Messi "15 Years" marks a different anniversary entirely - fifteen years since his professional debut for Barcelona on 16 October 2004, a date printed on the boot itself. El Retorno marks fifteen years of the adidas deal.

Platform construction was a Primeknit collar, a textile upper, a 3D-moulded heel, a laser-cut TPU cage and a conventional lace closure. Footy Headlines listed El Retorno as a limited release at €300. adidas did not publish production numbers.

X Speedflow.1 Messi "Mi Historia" (22 February 2022) landed in Messi's first season at Paris Saint-Germain. Solar Gold, Core Black and Bright Yellow, which Footy Headlines describes as a nod to his 2014-15 signature adizero, with handwritten words across the upper - "Familia," "Respeto," "Afición," "Nosotros." Under that: a Carbitex carbon-fibre insert with a raised forefoot, a stabilising Agilitycage and the Primeknit collar. Footy Headlines put it at $250 USD (€220 / £180) and lists laced .1, .3 and .4 versions only - no laceless version at all.

X Speedportal (2022-23)

Speedportal replaced Speedflow for 2022-23 and brought the Speedskin upper, a carbon-fibre Speedframe plate with a forefoot insert, and a bladed, multidirectional stud pattern. adidas and reviewers alike quoted 189g for the Speedportal.1. It is also the generation Argentina won a World Cup in.

X Speedportal Messi "Balón Te Adoro" (6 September 2022) was the first Messi colorway on the new platform, in White, Core Black and Solar Red, themed around Newell's Old Boys in Rosario - the club he joined at six. Footy Headlines gives $250 USD (€220 / £180); SoccerBible and Soccer Cleats 101 covered the release without publishing a price. It shipped as a laced .1 plus takedowns.

X Speedportal Messi "Leyenda" (released 22 November 2022) is the boot. Messi wore a personalised, match-modified version of it through Argentina's run to the title in Qatar, including the final against France on 18 December 2022.

The design reaches back to his first World Cup. Goal.com describes the medial side as celebrating the design of the +F50.6 Tunit, with the lateral side replicating the inline X Speedportal in white. Sources agree on what he actually played in: adidas wanted him in the +F50.6 Tunit and he chose the F30 takedown instead. What they differ on is which of those boots the Leyenda's design cites - Footy Headlines reads it as the F30, Goal.com as the +F50.6 Tunit.

Pricing is disputed too. Footy Headlines lists €280 / $275 / £230. Goal.com lists £300. Both figures were published at launch and we have not found anything that reconciles them, so the page carries both. This boot has its own full treatment at /guides/messi-world-cup-boots, including the match-worn modifications and the "World Cup Winner" follow-up.

X Speedportal Messi "L10NEL M35SI" (21 February 2023) was the victory lap, its name embedding his shirt number and the age at which he finally won the tournament. SoccerBible and The18 both describe it as an explicit retrospective, pulling elements from Messi's earlier signature boots, though neither enumerates which models. Launch prices reported differ: Footy Headlines gives $250 USD (€250 / £200), The18 gives $280 at adidas. We could not reconcile the two, so both stand.

X Crazyfast (2023-24)

The final X generation launched in July 2023 around three technologies adidas named in its own release: an Aeropacity Speedskin monomesh upper, an Aerocage engineered lining that hugs the midfoot, and an Aeroplate insert in the Speedframe soleplate that adidas says makes the plate 5g lighter than the previous carbon version.

On sustainability, adidas's release claims only two things: that "all X CRAZYFAST models contain zero virgin polyester," and that the X Crazyfast P+ "is made with a 15% lower carbon footprint, than the previous X SPEEDPORTAL P+ version," calculated to ISO 14067. No bio-based-content figure appears anywhere in that release, so none is quoted here.

X Crazyfast Messi "Infinito" (17 August 2023) introduced Messi to the platform, about a month into his Inter Miami career - he had debuted against Cruz Azul on 21 July 2023. Silver Met, Bliss Blue and Core Black, a chrome-silver wrap with blue nodding to Argentina. Footy Headlines gives $270 USD (around €240 / £200) and lists it as the laced .1 only, with no laceless version.

X Crazyfast Messi "Las Estrellas" (5 September 2023) was a deliberate sequel to the near-unobtainable Leyenda, with three stars on the heel for 1978, 1986 and 2022. SoccerBible noted no unique performance tech - the point is the chrome-plated soleplate that shifts from golden yellow to milky white with the light. Footy Headlines gives €280 / £220 / $260.

X Crazyfast Messi "Bienvenido a Miami" (16 October 2023, with an early drop through the adidas app on 10 October) turned to South Florida, leaning on Art Deco and Miami Vice colour - turquoise base, neon pink through the branding and forefoot. Footy Headlines gives $260 USD.

X Crazyfast Messi "Ballon d'Or 2023", nicknamed "El Ocho," followed his eighth Ballon d'Or on 30 October 2023. The colorway takes its golds from the trophy. We have not found a published launch price for it, so this page does not quote one.

X Crazyfast Messi "Spark Gen10s" (20 February 2024) closed the era, a lucid blue build matching Argentina's 2024 away kit, worn through Inter Miami's pre-season and into the MLS campaign. Footy Headlines gives $270 USD (€260 / £200) and lists both a laced (.1) and a laceless (LL) variant.

The laceless question

Some of Messi's signature colorways were sold laceless and some were not, so the honest answer is per-boot rather than per-era.

What is documented: the X Speedflow Messi range shipped in laced .1, .3 and .4 versions only, with no laceless option; "Balón Te Adoro" was a laced .1 plus takedowns; "Infinito" was laced-only, again with no laceless version; but "Spark Gen10s" was sold in both laced and laceless builds. All four of those are from Footy Headlines' own spec listings.

Messi himself plays in laces, and his match pairs are custom. Footy Headlines' close-up comparison of his boot against the retail version lists a repositioned lacing system, a bespoke "burrito" tongue made from a single large piece of knitted fabric that wraps his foot, a custom heel construction, a custom insole, a synthetic leather upper and thicker heel cushioning. If you are buying an X to play in because Messi played in it, buy the laced version.

Why adidas folded X back into the F50

The end of the X silo was reported by Footy Headlines in December 2023. adidas made it public in practice with the revived F50 "Fast Reborn" on 21 May 2024, built around a Sprintweb upper, Lightstrike Pro foam and a Sockfit collar. adidas has not published a detailed strategic rationale beyond marketing language, so anything past "they wanted the F50 name back" is inference.

What is clear is the scale of the switch. Footy Headlines counted 20 speed-silo editions across 2024: 15 next-gen F50s and only five X Crazyfasts.

Messi's own first boot on the revived line was the F50 Messi "Triunfo Dorado", and he has stayed on the F50 since - through El Último Tango at the 2026 World Cup and the Hora Dorada he wears at Inter Miami now. The full sequence is on the timeline.

Collecting the X era

Boot Release Generation Reported launch price El Retorno 4 Jun 2021 Speedflow €300 Mi Historia 22 Feb 2022 Speedflow.1 $250 / €220 / £180 Balón Te Adoro 6 Sep 2022 Speedportal $250 / €220 / £180 Leyenda 22 Nov 2022 Speedportal €280 / $275 / £230 (Footy Headlines); £300 (Goal.com) L10NEL M35SI 21 Feb 2023 Speedportal $250 (Footy Headlines) or $280 (The18) Infinito 17 Aug 2023 Crazyfast $270 (~€240 / £200) Las Estrellas 5 Sep 2023 Crazyfast €280 / £220 / $260 Bienvenido a Miami 16 Oct 2023 Crazyfast $260 Ballon d'Or "El Ocho" Late 2023 Crazyfast No published price found Spark Gen10s 20 Feb 2024 Crazyfast $270 / €260 / £200

The Leyenda is the one that matters to collectors, for the obvious reason: it is the retail version of the boot a player won a World Cup in, released as a limited edition four weeks before he did it. We are not quoting a resale figure for it. We could not verify current secondary-market pricing against a citable, dated source, and asking prices on listing sites are not sales - so the number is simply absent rather than guessed.

"Las Estrellas" is the sane alternative. Contemporary reporting expected it to be easier to get than the Leyenda, and it carries the same gold-and-World-Cup symbolism.

Check current listings on eBay and StockX, and see the current F50 range at adidas. We earn affiliate commission on outbound links. It does not affect what we write - and it does not change the fact that we don't sell boots.