Over 600 career goals, 10 La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League trophies, six Ballon d’Or awards – Lionel Messi’s list of achievements seems endless. Check out some of Argentina’s spectacular awards here.
All statistics are correct as of December 8, 2019.
Best ever scorer in La Liga
Messi has scored 431 goals from 462 appearances. Former Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo is second with 311 out of 292 games.
Barcelona’s best ever scorer
Messi is undoubtedly one of the club’s most famous characters of all time, scoring 617 goals in 702 games.
Over 50 hat tricks
On February 23, 2019, he scored his 50th career hat-trick in a match against Seville. His third goal also marked his 650th career strike – 585 for Barcelona and 65 for his national team, Argentina. He currently has 53 hat tricks for his name.
Most La Liga hat tricks
On December 7, 2019, Messi scored three goals against Mallorca, scoring his 35th hat trick in the league. Former Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo was surpassed.
First goal in 15 consecutive Champions League seasons
When Messi scored the first goal against Slavia Prague on October 23, 2019, he was the first player to score in 15 consecutive Champions League seasons.
First goal in 15 consecutive La Liga seasons
On August 18, 2018, with his goal against Deportivo Alavés, he was the first player to score in 15 consecutive Spanish league seasons. This was also F.C. Barcelona’s 6,000. Results. The 5,000th The club’s goal, which was scored in 2009, was also scored by Messi.
Most La Liga wins
On April 6, Messi prevailed against former Spanish skipper Iker Casillas with 335 wins in La Liga thanks to his goal against Atlético Madrid – the highest number in the Spanish league.
Most goals in a La Liga season
The Barcelona icon scored 50 goals from 37 appearances in the 2011/12 season. The following season, he almost repeated the feat, scoring 46 goals in just 32 games. Ronaldo got even closer in the 2014/15 season, scoring 48 goals in 35 games.
Most goals were scored in a calendar year
Messi’s insatiable hunger for goals earned him 91 points in 2012 – 79 for Barcelona and 12 for Argentina. The Guinness world record holder for most goals in a calendar year also holds the record for most goals scored in a national season – 73 (2011-12).
Most Ballon d’Or wins
The little Argentine has six (2009, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’15 and ’19) victories to his name. With his last win, Messi has built a lead over Cristiano Ronaldo, who celebrated his fifth victory in December 2017.
Most European golden shoes
As the top scorer in the league, Messi has a record of six European golden shoes.
(Pictured) With Ms. Antonella Roccuzzo and sons Thiago and Mateo at the 2019 Golden Shoe Ceremony in Europe.
Fastest to 100 goals in the UEFA Champions League
Messi made her 2004 debut against the Ukrainian FC. Shakhtar Donetsk reached the milestone in 123 games.
Messi and Ronaldo are the only players to have scored goals in Europe‘s most prestigious club competition for a century. However, the Portuguese needed 144 games to reach the same brand.
Youngest to 250 La Liga goals
The Barcelona superstar was 27 when he reached the landmark. It came during a routine 3-0 league win against S.D. Eibar on October 18, 2014. The record was previously held by athletic Bilbao legend Telmo Zarra, who was 34 when he scored his 250th goal.
Only player to score in 23 cities
Messi has scored Champions League goals in Portugal, England, Scotland, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Russia, Greece, Belarus, Cyprus and of course in Spain. That is an impressive 23 goals in 16 cities.
La Liga top scorer (active)
Messi is a six-time winner of the Trofeo Pichichi (’09 -10, ’11 -’12, ’12 -’13, ’16 -’17, ’17 -’18, ’18 -19), which was named after the legendary Athletic Bilbao striker Rafael “Pichichi” Moreno. The award is given by the leading Spanish sports newspaper Marca and has been given to the league’s top goalscorers every year since 1952/53.
Messi shares his record with Telmo Zarra.
Most league hat tricks in one season
Messi was phenomenal in the 2011/12 season with eight hat tricks, even by his own standards. In 2014-15 Ronaldo achieved this brand.
Most goals were scored by El Clásico
The games between sworn rival Barcelona and Real Madrid were always a brand new game, and Messi met Ronaldo. The Argentine is Ronaldo’s second best with 26 goals.
Argentina’s best goal scorer of all time
Although Messi has not had the same success internationally, his scoring record is impressive: 70 out of 138 appearances. On August 17, 2005, he made his friendly game against Hungary, which the South Americans won 2-1.
Youngest Argentinian to score at a World Cup
Messi was 18 years, 11 months and 23 days old when he scored a goal at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The goal, also his first for the national team, fell in a group phase against Serbia-Montenegro, which Argentina won 6-0. The South Americans started as group winners, but were eliminated from the tournament by hosts Germany in the quarterfinals. They were beaten on penalties.
Youngest with 100 appearances in the Champions League
Messi was 28 years and 84 days old when he competed for the 100th time. The occasion was a group game against the Italian club A.S. Rome, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, on September 16, 2015. The game ended 1-1.
Was the first to score more than 10 goals in 13 consecutive La Liga seasons
Messi rolled in two great free kicks in a local derby against R.C.D. Espanyol on December 9, 2018 at the RCDE stadium in Barcelona (Spain). He was the first player in the history of the league to score at least 10 goals a year in 13 consecutive seasons.
Over 20 goals in 10 consecutive seasons
Messi has scored at least 20 league goals every season since 2008/09. His lowest return in a league season came in the first year of that run when he scored 23 goals from 34 games. He has scored over 40 goals three times during this period.
First, when you hit each team in a league in a row
Messi scored a remarkable goal in the 2012/13 season during a 2-2 draw against Celta Vigo at the Balaídos stadium in Vigo, Spain. This year he scored against every team in the league.
Longest race in the league
Messi scored 33 goals from 21 appearances in the ’12 -13 season. He scored a total of 46 goals from 32 games this season. However, his record of 21 games was stopped by Atlético Madrid on May 12, 2013.
The highest paid athlete in the world
The soccer superstar topped the 2019 Forbes annual list with a $ 127 million profit.
26/26 SLIDES
Lionel Messi believes that the “special duel” between him and Cristiano Ronaldo when the two faced each other will leave a lasting impression.
The Barcelona superstar met Ronaldo in LaLiga for almost a decade, where the two scored a goal at astonishing speed and practically assumed joint custody of the Ballon d’Or.
The debate is about who the best player in the world is, but a shortlist of two players is accepted almost everywhere – either Messi or Ronaldo.
The Portuguese attacker has switched to Juventus since then, but Messi, who won the sixth Ballon d’Or record in December, has fond memories of his long-standing Spanish saga.
“The games against Real always mean a lot, but when Cristiano was there they became a lot more special,” said Messi.
But a time has passed that we have experienced. Now we have to look to the future.
“It was a special duel and it will stay [in people’s minds] forever because it took many years and it is not easy to maintain such values for a long time.
“The teams we played in were also very demanding, both Real Madrid and Barca, the two best teams in the world.
“The sporting duel between us was very nice on a personal level and I think people also had fun, whether they were fans of Madrid or Barca or even just football fans in general.”
Barca appointed a new head coach this week, with Quique Setien replacing Ernesto Valverde, despite having the club at the top with Madrid.
The last Clasico duel ended in Camp Nou in December with 0-0 when Barca started in Santiago Bernabeu in March.
