Lionel Messi international goals: all 126 for Argentina, by year, competition and opponent
Lionel Messi finished with 126 goals in 208 games for Argentina. Every one of them broken down by competition, year and opponent, with his 11 hat-tricks and the records he set along the way.
Sep 10, 2021 · Updated Oct 8, 2026
Lionel Messi scored 126 international goals for Argentina in 208 appearances between 2005 and 2026. The first came against Croatia in a friendly in Basel on 1 March 2006, and the last was a penalty against Benin at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires on 6 October 2026, in his farewell match. Nobody has scored more for Argentina or for any South American men’s team, and in the men’s game only Cristiano Ronaldo has more international goals.
His Argentina career is over, so these numbers are final. The tables below break Messi’s international goals down by competition, year and opponent, with the milestones and all 11 hat-tricks.
Messi’s international career at a glance
| International goals | 126 |
| Appearances | 208 |
| Goals per game | 0.61 |
| Debut | 17 August 2005, v Hungary (friendly, Budapest) |
| First goal | 1 March 2006, v Croatia (friendly, Basel) |
| Last goal | 6 October 2026, v Benin (friendly, Buenos Aires) |
| Penalties | 26 |
| Hat-tricks | 11 (including one five-goal game) |
| Different opponents scored against | 46 |
Messi’s international goals by competition
| Competition | Appearances | Goals | Goals per game |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friendlies | 62 | 55 | 0.89 |
| World Cup qualifiers | 72 | 36 | 0.50 |
| FIFA World Cup | 34 | 21 | 0.62 |
| Copa América | 39 | 14 | 0.36 |
| Finalissima | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Total | 208 | 126 | 0.61 |
Friendlies account for 55 of the 126 goals, which is 44% of the total from fewer than a third of his caps. That is the usual stick to beat the record with, and it is fair as far as it goes. In competitive matches he scored 71 goals in 146 games.
The more surprising number is the Copa América. Messi played 39 Copa games and scored only 14 times, his lowest rate in any competition he played more than once. He lost three Copa finals before he finally won one in 2021. The World Cup went the other way: 21 goals in 34 matches, 13 of them before 2026 and eight more at the 2026 tournament in North America. The full list is on our page of Messi’s World Cup goals.
Messi’s goals for Argentina by year
| Year | Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 5 | 0 |
| 2006 | 7 | 2 |
| 2007 | 14 | 6 |
| 2008 | 8 | 2 |
| 2009 | 10 | 3 |
| 2010 | 10 | 2 |
| 2011 | 13 | 4 |
| 2012 | 9 | 12 |
| 2013 | 7 | 6 |
| 2014 | 14 | 8 |
| 2015 | 8 | 4 |
| 2016 | 11 | 8 |
| 2017 | 7 | 4 |
| 2018 | 5 | 4 |
| 2019 | 10 | 5 |
| 2020 | 4 | 1 |
| 2021 | 16 | 9 |
| 2022 | 14 | 18 |
| 2023 | 8 | 8 |
| 2024 | 11 | 6 |
| 2025 | 5 | 3 |
| 2026 | 12 | 11 |
His best year was 2022, when he scored 18 times in 14 games and won the World Cup in Qatar. His best year before that was 2012, with 12 goals in nine games.
The split that stands out is how late the goals came. Messi had 45 international goals from his first 97 caps, which took him to the end of 2014. He scored 81 in his last 111. And 68 of the 126 came after his 30th birthday in June 2017. For a player who spent his twenties being told he did not deliver for Argentina, that is quite a second act.
Who did Messi score the most goals against?
| Opponent | Goals |
|---|---|
| Bolivia | 11 |
| Ecuador | 7 |
| Venezuela | 7 |
| Uruguay | 6 |
| Algeria, Brazil, Chile, Estonia, Guatemala, Paraguay | 5 each |
Bolivia suffered most, and two of his hat-tricks came against them, both at the Monumental. CONMEBOL sides took 52 of his goals in all. He scored against 46 different countries from five confederations.
Messi’s international goal milestones
| Goal | Date | Opponent | What it meant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1 Mar 2006 | Croatia | First international goal, in a 3-2 friendly defeat in Basel |
| 55th | 21 Jun 2016 | United States | A free kick in the Copa América Centenario semi-final, passing Gabriel Batistuta’s Argentina record of 54 |
| 78th and 79th | 9 Sep 2021 | Bolivia | Completed a hat-trick and took him past Pelé’s 77, the record for a South American man |
| 100th | 28 Mar 2023 | Curaçao | The first of a hat-trick in a 7-0 friendly win |
| 126th | 6 Oct 2026 | Benin | A penalty in his farewell match, a 3-0 win in Buenos Aires |
The Pelé record is the reason this page first existed. Messi’s hat-trick against Bolivia in a World Cup qualifier in September 2021 took him to 79 goals, two clear of the Brazilian, two months after he had finally won a senior trophy with Argentina at the Copa América.
All 11 of Messi’s international hat-tricks
| Date | Opponent | Goals | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Feb 2012 | Switzerland | 3 | 3-1 | Friendly |
| 9 Jun 2012 | Brazil | 3 | 4-3 | Friendly |
| 14 Jun 2013 | Guatemala | 3 | 4-0 | Friendly |
| 10 Jun 2016 | Panama | 3 | 5-0 | Copa América Centenario |
| 10 Oct 2017 | Ecuador | 3 | 3-1 | World Cup qualifier |
| 29 May 2018 | Haiti | 3 | 4-0 | Friendly |
| 9 Sep 2021 | Bolivia | 3 | 3-0 | World Cup qualifier |
| 5 Jun 2022 | Estonia | 5 | 5-0 | Friendly |
| 28 Mar 2023 | Curaçao | 3 | 7-0 | Friendly |
| 15 Oct 2024 | Bolivia | 3 | 6-0 | World Cup qualifier |
| 16 Jun 2026 | Algeria | 3 | 3-0 | FIFA World Cup |
The one most Argentines will remember is Quito in October 2017. Argentina went into the last round of qualifying outside the World Cup places, fell behind to Ecuador in the first minute at altitude, and Messi scored all three to take them to Russia. The last, against Algeria in June 2026, was his first hat-trick at a World Cup.
How Messi compares with the top international scorers
Ronaldo is the one man ahead of him, with 146 goals in 234 games for Portugal. Behind Messi, Iran’s Ali Daei scored 108 in 148, and India’s Sunil Chhetri retired on 95 in 157. Messi’s goals-per-game rate of 0.61 is close to Ronaldo’s 0.62. The two careers are set side by side in our Ronaldo vs Messi stats comparison.
Frequently asked questions
How many international goals did Messi score?
126, in 208 appearances for Argentina from 2005 to 2026. The last was a penalty against Benin on 6 October 2026.
How many of Messi’s international goals were penalties?
26 of the 126. The other 100 came from open play and free kicks.
Who has more international goals, Messi or Ronaldo?
Ronaldo, with 146 to Messi’s 126. Messi is second on the men’s all-time list and first among South American men.
The story of his last night in an Argentina shirt is in our report on Messi’s farewell against Benin, and his medals for club and country are on our list of all the trophies won by Lionel Messi.