Photo: Collected
The final chapter of Lionel Messi’s majestic two-decade journey in the Argentina jersey has also been written. Since his debut in international football in 2005, he has set one record after another and brought the team trophies that had long been elusive. After playing his last international match in the friendly against Benin on 6 October 2026, Messi’s statistics for Argentina stand at a unique height.
Messi made his international football debut in a friendly against Hungary on 17 August 2005. Since then he has played 208 matches for Argentina and scored 126 goals, and set up 69 more for his teammates. He has 11 hat-tricks in his international career. During this time he has been shown 9 yellow cards and two red cards.
He spent a total of 17,210 minutes on the pitch in the national team jersey. Messi has four trophies with Argentina: the Copa America of 2021 and 2024, the 2022 World Cup and the Finalissima of the same year. After a long wait, Messi ended the title drought with the national team and became one of the most successful captains in Argentina’s history.
Messi’s record also shows plenty of variety in terms of opponents. He played the most matches, 14 each, against Brazil, Paraguay and Chile. He scored the most goals, 11, against Bolivia. He has seven goals each against Ecuador and Venezuela.
Messi’s highest tally in a single match for Argentina is five goals. In a friendly against Estonia in 2022, he found the net five times on his own. That same year, the superstar set the feat of a highest 18 goals in a calendar year for the national team. Messi has scored against a total of 46 countries for Argentina.
How many goals in which competition
A large share of Messi’s goals for Argentina came in friendlies and World Cup qualifiers. He has 55 goals in 62 friendlies. In World Cup qualifiers he scored 36 goals in 72 matches. He has 21 goals in 34 matches at the World Cup and 14 goals in 39 matches at the Copa America. He played one match in the Finalissima and did not score.
Messi’s record after record at the World Cup
There is no end to Messi’s records on the World Cup stage either. He is the only footballer to have won the Golden Ball for the best player at two World Cups. He also holds the most man-of-the-match awards at the World Cup, 16.
Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have both played in six World Cups. Messi has 34 World Cup appearances, which is the highest. He is also on top in terms of wins; Lionel Messi has won 23 matches at the World Cup.
Messi is also the only player to have been in the starting XI in three World Cup finals. He was 35 years old when he took the field in the final against France in 2022. Another unique record has been added in the last chapter of his World Cup career: at 39 years and 25 days, he also tops the list of the oldest players to have played in a World Cup final.
Messi has 35 goals in the World Cup and continental tournaments combined. With 21 goals at the World Cup, he is second on the list of all-time top scorers. Above him is France’s Kylian Mbappe, who has 22 goals.
Messi is also second in the overall reckoning of international football. With 126 goals in 208 matches, he is just behind Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo has scored 146 goals in 233 international matches.
Messi’s career in the Argentina jersey is not just the statistics of goals, matches or trophies; it is the story of an era. From the World Cup to the Copa America, from personal records to team success, Lionel Messi has made his name permanent in Argentina’s football history over a journey of nearly two decades with the national team.
