His debut was on October 16, 2004, at the tender age of seventeen when he played for the last twenty minutes – coming on for goalscorer Deco in a 1-0 victory against Espanyol. By that point, he’d already been the youngest player to play for the club in an official match.
The balance of the story reads like this: After scoring 846 goals and winning eight Ballon d’Ors and 43 senior-team honors, he has solidified his place among the all-time greats.
On the 20th anniversary of his first appearance, we take a look at the best facts and figures on the career of the Argentine maestro.
From Prodigy to Club Legend
Perhaps while playing for his national side, Messi attained his greatest successes. It was at Barca where he made the mark, having moved to one of the most celebrated academies in the world when he was just 13 years old.
Upon his exit in 2021, Messi had already established himself as Barca’s all-time leader in every category, with 766 appearances and 687 starts, while netting an astonishing 664 goals for the Catalan giants- far ahead of Cesar Rodriguez’s previous record of 232.
Over his 17 years in the Barcelona first team, Messi scored and assisted once every 94 matches, with the 260 assists accounted for on his part equating with about 123 more than Xavi’s count of 137, who equals the second-highest record since the Opta data began.
In total, Messi was directly involved in the staggering number of 924 goals for Barca. Only Luis Suarez picked up a very commendable tally of goals and assists combined in that same time with a direct contribution of 295 (198 goals and 97 assists).
During his time at Camp Nou, he lifted a total of 35 trophies, the most for any player in Barca’s history, which included 10 La Liga and 4 Champions League victories.
His move to Paris Saint-Germain marked the sad parting in August 2021 after a strong financial crisis made it impossible for Barcelona to renew his contract.
He added two more league titles for the team in two seasons there, but not without his share of disappointments, with fan protests escalating after the early Champions League exits at the hands of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Though his debut season in France included a Ballon D’Or seventh, it was in part to Argentina winning Copa America in 2021.
He made just 26 league appearances in the first season, which became the lowest he had made in a complete league season since 2006-07, where he was practically still a kid; it may as well have been his worst season in France, with meager returns of six goals and nine assists in the French top flight.
Last season, he notched up another 16 goals and 16 assists and only bettered his two-year total of directly contributing to 55 goals in Ligue 1 by Kylian Mbappe (79) and Wissam Ben Yedder (55).
The toxic atmosphere with PSG fans and the lack of continental triumphs during his stay in France made him unhappy, which viewed Messi switch to the United States in 2023 with MLS franchise Inter Miami supported by David Beckham.
Success immediately came as Messi drove the Herons to glory in the Leagues Cup in August 2023. By the end of the particular season, he had scored 10 goals in 7 matches, not yet having appeared in a league game, making him third in all-time scores for Inter Miami.
The Supporters’ Shield 2024 came last month, and Messi is a top contender for the MLS MVP after a brilliant personal campaign, highlighted by a 10-game run to start with goal involvement and five assists against the New York Red Bulls in May’s remarkable 6-2 rout, in which he also scored.
New records come from Messi since, apart from himself, no other player in history has had six goal involvements in an MLS game, nor setup five goals for teammates in a single match for club and country.
So far this year, Messi’s 27 direct goal involvements in regular-season play put him fourth in the list of most goal assists made-have had only Luciano Acosta 30, Evander at 29, Cucho Hernandez, Denis Bouanga, and Christian Benteke all at 28. Best of all? Messi has started just 15 matches.
International Glory
It seems unthinkable that Messi could be maligned by Argentina fans at this point, for most of his career he was criticized for failing to live up to Diego Maradona’s achievements in the Albiceleste shirt.
However, back-to-back Copa America triumphs in 2021 and 2024, alongside an incredible ascension to World Cup glory in 2022, would surely alter such an impression for life.
Messi was awarded the Player of the Tournament title as well as the Golden Boot as Argentina ended their 18-long wait for silverware at the 2021 Copa, but it was Qatar 2022, that established his legacy to an undisputed level.
Messi scored in all matches, except against Poland, which gave Argentina some thrill as he finished the tournament with 7 goals and 3 assists, 2 of which, as the match progressed into penalties, were scored in the finals plus an extra penalty score, giving hope against France.
Only Gerd Muller (10 goals and 3 assists in 1970), Just Fontaine (13 goals in 1958), and Sandor Kocsis (11 goals in 1954) can boast better displays in a single World Cup.
His overall 21 goal contributions at the World Cup are an all-time record for goal involvement, while he is the only player to have been awarded the Golden Ball at two separate editions, 2014 and 2022.
The Copa America this year was another feather in Messi’s cap as he continued to write more of his tribute to international football, the last note being drawn in absence due to injury as Argentina succeeded over Colombia in the final.
He didn’t stop at that; he scored an actual hat-trick against Bolivia Tuesday, capturing the mark for most international hat-tricks with 10, thus equalling that of Cristiano Ronaldo.
His total of 112 goals with Argentina is still slightly shy of Ronaldo’s 133 for Portugal, but Messi’s recent haul of international trophies makes him a slight favorite here.
Shoutout to James Jernigan for his insights on this topic. Check him out!
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