Messi, the Last Dance: all the record numbers in an Argentina shirt

The Last Dance. Lionel Messi will bid farewell to the Argentina national team at the age of 39 with one final friendly appearance against Benin. After 21 years, 207 caps and 125 goals scored, the Pulce says goodbye to the Seleccion he led back to the top and is preparing to bring his international career to a close, while keeping his club career going with Inter Miami.

That closes a huge chapter in Leo’s journey, one shaped, as you’d expect, by highs and lows, crowned by the World Cup won in Qatar in 2022 but also marked by the more recent pain of the final lost to Spain in 2026.

The bond between Messi and Argentina is unbreakable, and his record-breaking numbers tell the story. No one has ever played more matches for the Albiceleste (207), scored more goals (125) or provided more assists (68). On his own, he has contributed to 193 goals for the national team. The numbers look even more extraordinary in the wider picture, with more than 900 goals and 400 assists.

For the Seleccion, he played a major part in winning the FIFA U-20 World Cup, Olympic gold in 2008, the Copa America in 2021 and 2024, the CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions in 2022 and, as mentioned, the 2022 World Cup, as captain and the best player of the tournament. The final against France still stands out: he scored twice and brought the most coveted trophy back to Buenos Aires after 36 years. He has taken part in 6 World Cups, playing 34 matches and 3,064 (both records) and scoring 21 goals, second only to Mbappé. He also holds the World Cup assists record (12) and was named MVP in both 2014 and 2022. Messi is the youngest player (18 years and 357 days) and also the oldest (38 years and 357 days) to score a goal in a World Cup, the only one to have scored in every stage of a World Cup (group stage, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final) and the record-holder for consecutive goals — nine — in official matches in the competition.

Then again, you would expect that from someone who has won the Ballon d’Or 8 times and the Golden Shoe 6 times. Messi is the top scorer for a South American national team and the highest scorer in the history of the South American qualifiers (36 goals), as well as the player with the most appearances for Argentina.

And to think it started so badly and could have ended far sooner. In 2005, when he made his debut at 18 against Hungary, he was sent off after just a few seconds. Then, in 2016, he had already left the national team, before changing his mind. Crushed by the weight of expectations, the endless comparison with Maradona and the defeats, Messi had said stop. He did so after the 2016 Copa America final, lost 4-2 on penalties to Chile. It was the third straight final that he and his Argentina had lost after the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, against Germany, and the one in 2015, again against La Roja.

If Messi returned to play for Argentina, and finally to win, the credit goes to Scaloni. He convinced him, built a group around him and gave him back the joy of playing with those who had once looked up to him as an idol and then found themselves alongside him. Five years after the farewell came the triumph. The 2021 Copa America opened a new chapter in his story with Argentina, very different from the previous one. The first continental success, the Finalissima, the World Cup and another Copa America. An astonishing run that ended only against Spain in the New York final and in the face of time, relentless as ever.

“It’s the right time,” Messi had said in his farewell letter. But for football fans, it will never be the right time to really let him go.

This article first appeared on Goal.com and was syndicated with permission.

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