Why is Messi wearing No.10 for PSG vs Nice? French shirt number tradition explained

Paris Saint-Germain take on Nice in the last-16 of the French Cup, and you may be wondering why Lionel Messi hasn't been given the No.30 shirt – and will instead wear his old iconic No.10 shirt, the number he favoured during his time playing for Barcelona.

GOAL has what you need to know about why Messi is wearing the shirt usually occupied by Neymar and more.

Messi is wearing the No. 10 for PSG against Nice because of a French Cup tradition which maintains that in the last 16 stage, the 11 starting players must wear numbers from 1 to 11.

In the team news announcement posted by PSG in the lead-up to the match, the No.10 was assigned to Messi.

The Argentine currently wears the No.30 shirt for PSG, due to Neymar occupying the No.10.

Usually, of course, players are allowed to wear numbers higher than the number 11.

Neymar will not be featuring in the game against Nice as he is currently recovering from a left ankle sprain with ligament damage sustained in a Ligue 1 match against Saint-Etienne back in November.

Tonight’s starting 1⃣1⃣ for the Nice game!