Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has funded the construction of 20 classrooms in war-torn Syria.

The donation was made to Unicef through the Argentine’s Leo Messi Foundation and has allowed more than 1,600 children to continue to be educated in “adequately furnished classrooms” according to Spanish sports daily Marca.

The classrooms are also fully equipped with solar panels to provide the children with the best possible learning environment despite the on-going conflict in the country, which has lasted six years.

According to the report, more than 60 per cent of the children attending the schools financed by Messi have lost or been removed from their homes because of all the fighting.

Messi, who is widely considered, along with Cristiano Ronaldo, to be the greatest player to kick a football, has been an ambassador for Unicef since 2010 and has previously called for an end to the war in Syria, calling it “heartbreaking”.