Lionel Messi is not just one of the best creators of chances around in the game, but he is lethal in front of goal himself as well.
The Paris Saint-Germain star is Argentina's all-time leading goal scorer by some distance and holds numerous other goalscoring records, both at club and international level.
For the national team, it all started with a tumultuous debut appearance against Hungary in 2005, with Messi receiving a red card barely a minute after coming off the bench.
That was merely a blip on his journey to greatness, though, and the forward got his first Argentina goal at senior level in a 3-2 friendly loss against Croatia the following year.
That turned out to be start of an impressive goalscoring run and Messi has since been able to celebrate goals more or less wherever he went.
Just how many strikes does the Barcelona legend have to his name, though, and in which competitions did he find the net the most often?
Lionel Messi's total Argentina goals
Competition | Games | Goals |
|---|---|---|
World Cup | 26 | 13 |
Copa America | 34 | 13 |
World Cup qualification | 65 | 31 |
Finalissima | 1 | 0 |
International friendlies | 54 | 49 |
Total | 180 | 106 |
How many goals has Lionel Messi scored at the World Cup?
Edition | Games | Goals |
|---|---|---|
2006 World Cup | 3 | 1 |
2010 World Cup | 5 | 0 |
2014 World Cup | 7 | 4 |
2018 World Cup | 4 | 1 |
2022 World Cup | 7 | 6 |
26 | 13 |
Lionel Messi's Copa America record
Edition | Games | Goals |
|---|---|---|
Copa America 2007 | 6 | 2 |
Copa America 2011 | 4 | 0 |
Copa America 2015 | 6 | 1 |
Copa America Centenario 2016 | 5 | 5 |
Copa America 2019 | 6 | 1 |
Copa America 2021 | 7 | 4 |
34 | 13 |
World Cup qualification goals
Edition | Goals |
|---|---|
2010 World Cup qualifiers | 4 |
2014 World Cup qualifiers | 10 |
2018 World Cup qualifiers | 7 |
2022 World Cup qualifiers | 7 |
| 2026 World Cup qualifiers | 3 |
31 |
Messi in the Finalissima
Edition | Fixture | Goals |
|---|---|---|
2022 | Italy 0-3 Argentina | 0 |
Messi's friendly goals for Argentina
Games | Goals |
|---|---|
52 | 46 |
Messi Argentina hat-tricks
Match | Goals | Competition | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
Switzerland 1-3 Argentina | 3 | Friendly | February 29, 2012 |
Brazil 3-4 Argentina | 3 | Friendly | June 9, 2012 |
Argentina 4-0 Guatemala | 3 | Friendly | June 14, 2013 |
Argentina 5-0 Panama | 3 | Copa America Centenario | June 10, 2016 |
Ecuador 1-3 Argentina | 3 | World Cup qualifiers | October 10, 2017 |
Argentina 4-0 Haiti | 3 | Friendly | May 29, 2018 |
Argentina 3-0 Bolivia | 3 | World Cup qualifiers | September 9, 2021 |
Argentina 5-0 Estonia | 5 | Friendly | June 5, 2022 |
Messi's favourite opponents
Team | Goals |
|---|---|
Bolivia | 8 |
Ecuador | 7 |
Uruguay | 6 |
Brazil | 5 |
Chile | 5 |
Estonia | 5 |
Paraguay | 5 |
Venezuela | 5 |
Mexico | 4 |
Panama | 4 |
Guatemala | 3 |
Haiti | 3 |
Nigeria | 3 |
Colombia | 3 |
Switzerland | 3 |
*Data accurate as of April 3, 2024