Lionel Messi is an Argentine footballer who has represented the Argentina national team from 2005 to 2026. Throughout his international career, Messi has scored 126 goals in 208 international appearances, making him the country's all-time top scorer; he surpassed Gabriel Batistuta's record of 54 goals with a free kick against the United States in the semi-final of the Copa América Centenario on 21 June 2016. He also holds the record for most goals by a South American male, surpassing Brazilian Pelé's 77 goals with a hat-trick against Bolivia on 9 September 2021. After scoring against Canada in the 2024 Copa América semi-final, he became the second-highest international men's goalscorer of all time, trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi made his debut for Argentina in a 2–1 away win over Hungary on 17 August 2005, and scored his first international goal the following year in his sixth appearance, against Croatia. His goal against Serbia and Montenegro, on 16 June 2006, at the age of 18 years and 358 days, made him the youngest-ever scorer for Argentina at a FIFA World Cup. He scored 11 international hat-tricks, and netted twice in a match on 15 occasions. In a friendly against Estonia on 5 June 2022, Messi scored five goals in a match for Argentina for the first time. Out of all his opponents, Messi has scored the most against Bolivia, recording 11 goals in total. He has scored 19 international goals at the Estadio Monumental, his most in a single stadium. In 2022, Messi broke the record for the most international goals scored in a calendar year for Argentina, with 18.
Messi scored 36 goals in FIFA World Cup qualifiers, making him the highest scorer of the qualification in CONMEBOL. He scored 14 goals in the Copa América: two in 2007, one in 2015, five in 2016, one in 2019, four in 2021 and one in 2024. Messi scored 21 goals in FIFA World Cup tournaments: one goal in 2006, four in 2014, one in 2018, seven in 2022 and another eight in 2026, making him the competition's second-highest scorer after Kylian Mbappé. The remainder of Messi's goals, 55, have come in friendlies (official matches).
Goals Argentina score listed first, score column indicates score after each Messi goal + Table key Indicates goal was scored from a penalty kickIndicates Argentina won the matchIndicates the match ended in a draw (a penalty shoot-out is recorded as a draw regardless of shoot-out results)Indicates Argentina lost the match
+ Cap Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 6 1 March 2006 St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland 2–1 align=center Friendly 2 8 16 June 2006 Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, Germany 6–0 align=center 2006 FIFA World Cup 3 14 5 June 2007 Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain 2–2 rowspan="2" align="center" Friendly 4 4–2 5 18 8 July 2007 Estadio Metropolitano de Lara, Barquisimeto, Venezuela 2–0 align=center 2007 Copa América 6 19 11 July 2007 Polideportivo Cachamay, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela 2–0 align=center 7 24 16 October 2007 Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo, Venezuela 2–0 align=center 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 8 26 20 November 2007 Estadio El Campín, Bogotá, Colombia 1–0 align=center 9 27 4 June 2008 Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, United States 2–0 align=center Friendly 10 33 11 October 2008 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1–0 align=center 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 11 35 11 February 2009 Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France 2–0 align=center Friendly 12 36 28 March 2009 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1–0 align=center 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 13 44 14 November 2009 Estadio Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain 1–1 align=center Friendly 14 52 7 September 2010 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1–0 align=center 15 54 17 November 2010 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 align=center 16 55 9 February 2011 Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland 2–1 align=center 17 57 20 June 2011 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2–0 align=center 18 64 7 October 2011 2–0 align=center 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 19 67 15 November 2011 Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia 1–1 align=center 20 68 29 February 2012 Stade de Suisse, Bern, Switzerland 1–0 rowspan="3" align="center" Friendly 21 2–1 22 3–1 23 69 2 June 2012 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 3–0 align=center 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 24 70 9 June 2012 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, United States 1–1 rowspan="3" align="center" Friendly 25 2–1 26 4–3 27 71 15 August 2012 Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany 2–0 align=center 28 72 7 September 2012 Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba, Argentina 3–1 align=center 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 29 74 12 October 2012 Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza, Argentina 1–0 rowspan="2" align="center" 30 3–0 31 75 16 October 2012 Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago, Chile 1–0 align=center 32 78 22 March 2013 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2–0 align=center 33 82 14 June 2013 Estadio Nacional Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala 1–0 rowspan="3" align="center" Friendly 34 3–0 35 4–0 36 83 10 September 2013 Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay 1–0 rowspan="2" align="center" 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 37 4–1 38 86 7 June 2014 Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina 2–0 align=center Friendly 39 87 15 June 2014 Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2–0 align=center 2014 FIFA World Cup 40 88 21 June 2014 Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil 1–0 align=center 41 89 25 June 2014 Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, Brazil 1–0 rowspan="2" align="center" 42 2–1 43 95 14 October 2014 Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po, Hong Kong 5–0 rowspan="2" align="center" Friendly 44 7–0 45 96 12 November 2014 Upton Park, London, England 2–1 align=center 46 98 13 June 2015 Estadio La Portada, La Serena, Chile 2–0 align=center 2015 Copa América 47 104 4 September 2015 BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, United States 5–0 rowspan="2" align="center" Friendly 48 6–0 49 105 8 September 2015 AT&T Stadium, Arlington, United States 2–2 align=center 50 107 29 March 2016 Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba, Argentina 2–0 align=center 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification 51 109 10 June 2016 Soldier Field, Chicago, United States 2–0 rowspan="3" align="center" Copa América Centenario 52 3–0 53 4–0 54 111 18 June 2016 Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, United States 3–0 align=center Copa América Centenario 55 112 21 June 2016 NRG Stadium, Houston, United States 2–0 align=center 56 114 1 September 2016 Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza, Argentina 1–0 align=center 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification 57 116 15 November 2016 Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan, Argentina 1–0 align=center 58 117 23 March 2017 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1–0 align=center 59 122 10 October 2017 Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador 1–1 rowspan="3" align="center" 60 2–1 61 3–1 62 124 29 May 2018 La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1–0 rowspan="3" align="center" Friendly 63 2–0 64 3–0 65 127 26 June 2018 Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia 1–0 align=center 2018 FIFA World Cup 66 130 7 June 2019 Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan, Argentina 1–0 rowspan="2" align="center" Friendly 67 2–0 68 132 19 June 2019 Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil 1–1 align=center 2019 Copa América 69 137 15 November 2019 King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 1–0 align=center 2019 Superclásico de las Américas 70 138 18 November 2019 Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel 2–2 align=center Friendly 71 139 8 October 2020 La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1–0 align=center 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 72 143 3 June 2021 Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero, Argentina 1–0 align=center 73 145 14 June 2021 Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1–0 align=center 2021 Copa América 74 148 28 June 2021 Arena Pantanal, Cuiabá, Brazil 2–0 rowspan="2" align="center" 75 3–0 76 149 3 July 2021 Estádio Olímpico Pedro Ludovico, Goiânia, Brazil 3–0 align=center 2021 Copa América 77 153 9 September 2021 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1–0 rowspan="3" align="center" 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 78 2–0 79 3–0 80 155 10 October 2021 1–0 align=center 81 159 25 March 2022 La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina 3–0 align=center 82 162 5 June 2022 Estadio El Sadar, Pamplona, Spain 1–0 rowspan="5" align="center" Friendly 83 2–0 84 3–0 85 4–0 86 5–0 87 163 23 September 2022 Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, United States 2–0 rowspan="2" align="center" 88 3–0 89 164 27 September 2022 Red Bull Arena, Harrison, United States 2–0 rowspan="2" align="center" 90 3–0 91 165 16 November 2022 Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 4–0 align=center 92 166 22 November 2022 Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar 1–0 align=center 2022 FIFA World Cup 93 167 26 November 2022 1–0 align=center 94 169 3 December 2022 Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar 1–0 align=center 2022 FIFA World Cup 95 170 9 December 2022 Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar 2–0 align=center 96 171 13 December 2022 1–0 align=center 97 172 18 December 2022 1–0rowspan="2" align=center 2022 FIFA World Cup final 98 3–2 99 173 23 March 2023 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2–0 align=center Friendly 100 174 28 March 2023 Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero, Argentina 1–0 rowspan="3" align="center" 101 3–0 102 5–0 103 175 15 June 2023 Workers' Stadium, Beijing, China 1–0 align=center 104 176 7 September 2023 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1–0 align=center 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification 105 178 17 October 2023 Estadio Nacional de Lima, Lima, Peru 1–0 rowspan="2" align=center 106 2–0 107 182 14 June 2024 Commanders Field, Landover, United States 1–1 rowspan="2" align=center Friendly 108 4–1 109 186 9 July 2024 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, United States 2–0 align=center 2024 Copa América 110 189 15 October 2024 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1–0 rowspan="3" align="center" 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification 111 5–0 112 6–0 113 194 4 September 2025 1–0 rowspan="2" align="center" 114 3–0 115 196 14 November 2025 Estádio 11 de Novembro, Luanda, Angola 2–0 align=center Friendly 116 198 31 March 2026 La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2–0 align=center 117 199 9 June 2026 Jordan–Hare Stadium, Auburn, United States 2–0‡ align=center 118 200 16 June 2026 Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, United States 1–0 rowspan="3" align=center 2026 FIFA World Cup 119 2–0 120 3–0 121 201 22 June 2026 AT&T Stadium, Arlington, United States 1–0 align=center rowspan="2" 122 2–0 123 202 27 June 2026 3–1 align=center 124 203 3 July 2026 Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, United States 1–0 align=center 2026 FIFA World Cup 125 204 7 July 2026 Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, United States 2–2 align=center 126208 6 October 2026 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 3–0‡ align=center Friendly
Hat-tricks