List of international goals scored by Lionel Messi


is an Argentine professional footballer who has represented the Argentina national football team as a forward since his debut in 2005. Since then, Messi has scored 70 goals in 138 international appearances, making him the country's all-time top scorer, surpassing Gabriel Batistuta's record, with a free kick against the United States in the semi-final of the Copa América Centenario on 21 June 2016. He made his debut for Argentina in a 2–1 away win over Hungary on 17 August 2005. He scored his first international goal a year later in his sixth appearance for his country against Croatia.
Messi's goal against Serbia and Montenegro, on 16 June 2006, made him the youngest-ever scorer for Argentina at a FIFA World Cup when he was 18 years and 357 days old. He has scored six international hat-tricks, and has netted twice in a match on eleven occasions. Messi has scored the most times against Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, with five goals against each side.
Messi has scored 21 goals in FIFA World Cup qualifiers, making him the all-time top scorer of the qualification in CONMEBOL, along with his Barcelona teammate Luis Suárez. He has scored nine goals in the Copa América, leading his team to the final of the tournament in 2007, 2015, and 2016, each time finishing as a runner-up. At the 2015 tournament, he allegedly rejected the Best Player award and the trophy was omitted from the ceremony.
He has scored six times in the FIFA World Cup tournaments, once in 2006, four times in 2014, when he guided his team to the final and was awarded the Golden Ball, and once in the 2018 World Cup. The remainder of Messi's goals, 34, have come in friendlies.

Goals

GoalCapDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetitionRef
161 March 2006St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland2–1align=center Friendly
2816 June 2006Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany6–0align=center 2006 FIFA World Cup
3145 June 2007Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain2–2rowspan="2" align="center" Friendly
4145 June 2007Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain4–2-Friendly
5188 July 2007Metropolitano de Lara, Barquisimeto, Venezuela2–0align=center 2007 Copa América
61911 July 2007Polideportivo Cachamay, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela2–0align=center 2007 Copa América
72416 October 2007Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo, Venezuela2–0align=center 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
82620 November 2007Estadio El Campín, Bogotá, Colombia1–0align=center 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
9274 June 2008Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, United States2–0align=center Friendly
103311 October 2008Estadio Antonio V. Liberti, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–0align=center 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
113511 February 2009Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France2–0align=center Friendly
123628 March 2009Estadio Antonio V. Liberti, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–0align=center 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
134414 November 2009Vicente Calderón Stadium, Madrid, Spain1–1align=center Friendly
14527 September 2010Estadio Antonio V. Liberti, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–0align=center Friendly
155417 November 2010Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–0align=center Friendly
16559 February 2011Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland2–1align=center Friendly
175720 June 2011Estadio Antonio V. Liberti, Buenos Aires, Argentina2–0align=center Friendly
18647 October 2011Estadio Antonio V. Liberti, Buenos Aires, Argentina2–0align=center 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
196715 November 2011Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia1–1align=center 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
206829 February 2012Stade de Suisse Wankdorf, Bern, Switzerland1–0rowspan="3" align="center" Friendly
216829 February 2012Stade de Suisse Wankdorf, Bern, Switzerland2–1-Friendly
226829 February 2012Stade de Suisse Wankdorf, Bern, Switzerland3–1-Friendly
23692 June 2012Estadio Antonio V. Liberti, Buenos Aires, Argentina3–0align=center 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
24709 June 2012MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, United States1–1rowspan="3" align="center" Friendly
25709 June 2012MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, United States2–1-Friendly
26709 June 2012MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, United States4–3-Friendly
277115 August 2012Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany2–1align=center Friendly
28727 September 2012Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba, Argentina3–1align=center 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
297412 October 2012Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza, Argentina1–0rowspan="2" align="center" 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
307412 October 2012Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza, Argentina3–0-2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
317516 October 2012Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile1–0align=center 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
327822 March 2013Estadio Antonio V. Liberti, Buenos Aires, Argentina3–0align=center 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
338214 June 2013Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala1–0rowspan="3" align="center" Friendly
348214 June 2013Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala3–0-Friendly
358214 June 2013Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala4–0-Friendly
368310 September 2013Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay1–0rowspan="2" align="center" 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
378310 September 2013Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay4–1-2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
38867 June 2014Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina2–0align=center Friendly
398715 June 2014Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil2–0align=center 2014 FIFA World Cup
408821 June 2014Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil1–0align=center 2014 FIFA World Cup
418925 June 2014Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, Brazil1–0rowspan="2" align="center" 2014 FIFA World Cup
428925 June 2014Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, Brazil2–1-2014 FIFA World Cup
439514 October 2014Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po, Hong Kong5–0rowspan="2" align="center" Friendly
449514 October 2014Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po, Hong Kong7–0-Friendly
459612 November 2014Upton Park, London, England2–1align=center Friendly
469813 June 2015Estadio La Portada, La Serena, Chile2–0align=center 2015 Copa América
471044 September 2015BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, United States5–0rowspan="2" align="center" Friendly
481044 September 2015BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, United States6–0-Friendly
491058 September 2015AT&T Stadium, Arlington, United States2–2align=center Friendly
5010729 March 2016Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba, Argentina2–0align=center 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5110910 June 2016Soldier Field, Chicago, United States2–0rowspan="3" align="center" Copa América Centenario
5210910 June 2016Soldier Field, Chicago, United States3–0-Copa América Centenario
5310910 June 2016Soldier Field, Chicago, United States4–0-Copa América Centenario
5411118 June 2016Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, United States3–0align=center Copa América Centenario
5511221 June 2016NRG Stadium, Houston, United States2–0align=center Copa América Centenario
561141 September 2016Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza, Argentina1–0align=center 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5711615 November 2016Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan, Argentina1–0align=center 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5811723 March 2017Estadio Antonio V. Liberti, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–0align=center 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5912110 October 2017Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador1–1rowspan="3" align="center" 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6012110 October 2017Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador2–1-2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6112110 October 2017Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador3–1-2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6212429 May 2018La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–0rowspan="3" align="center" Friendly
6312429 May 2018La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina2–0-Friendly
6412429 May 2018La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina3–0-Friendly
6512726 June 2018Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia1–0align=center 2018 FIFA World Cup
661307 June 2019Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan, Argentina1–0rowspan="2" align="center" Friendly
671307 June 2019Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan, Argentina2–0-Friendly
6813219 June 2019Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil1–1align=center 2019 Copa América
6913715 November 2019King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia1–0align=center 2019 Superclásico de las Américas
7013818 November 2019Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel2–2align=center Friendly

Hat-tricks

No.OpponentGoalsScoreVenueCompetitionDateRef
13 – 3–1Stade de Suisse Wankdorf, BernFriendly29 February 2012
23 – 4–3MetLife Stadium, East RutherfordFriendly9 June 2012
33 – 4–0Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala CityFriendly14 June 2013
43 – 5–0Soldier Field, ChicagoCopa América Centenario10 June 2016
53 – 3–1Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito2018 FIFA World Cup qualification10 October 2017
63 – 4–0La Bombonera, Buenos AiresFriendly29 May 2018

Statistics

CompetitionCapsGoals
Friendlies4734
Copa América279
FIFA World Cup qualification4521
FIFA World Cup196
Total13870

OpponentGoals
5
5
5
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Total70