Lionel Messi

Argentina · Ligue 1 · MF,FW · ARG · age 39

Lionel Messi celebrating with a raised fist in Argentina's shirt at the 2022 World Cup.
Photo Hossein Zohrevand / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0

The last dance

The champion's farewell

For most of his career the World Cup was the thing held against Lionel Messi — the trophy his country demanded, the comparison forever drawn, the missing line on an otherwise flawless résumé. Then came Qatar in 2022, and the final against France, and a night that finally and completely settled the argument. He had it all.

That is what makes 2026 different from every tournament before it. At 39, with 198 caps and 116 goals for Argentina, he arrives not as a man chasing a ghost but as a champion taking one last lap — defending the title, on the North American soil where he now plays his club football with Inter Miami.

It would be a sixth World Cup, almost certainly his last, and a farewell tour for perhaps the most gifted footballer the game has ever seen. The pressure is gone. What remains is the goodbye.

Perfil en la plantilla del Mundial 2026

Selección
Argentina
Posición
FW
Rol en la plantilla
Titular proyectado
Ranking en su posición
#2
Internacionalidades
198
Goles internacionales
116
Asistencias internacionales
64
0.80(valoración del modelo, 0–1)
46.9%

Ver a Lionel Messi en la lista de goleadores de Argentina →

Forma reciente

Steady

2024/25 international form vs the player's multi-season baseline (7.89 vs 7.82).

Major tournament stats

TournamentMPMinGAxGShKPPrgPPrgCTklInt
Copa América 20245475112.01313414700
World Cup 20227739736.032168910940
World Cup 20184378111.9188477420
All tournaments161,5929510.0633717723060
Event data from StatsBomb open data, covering the World Cup, Euro, Copa América and AFCON finals. Small per-tournament samples — totals shown, not per-90 rates.
▸How to read this table— 11 columns explained
MP
Matches played in the tournament.
Min
Total minutes on the pitch.
G
Goals scored (penalties in normal play included; shootouts excluded).
A
Assists — passes that directly led to a goal.
xG
Expected goals — summed per-shot quality (StatsBomb's model).
Sh
Shots taken.
KP
Key passes — passes that led to a shot.
PrgP
Progressive passes — completed passes moving the ball ≥10m toward goal.
PrgC
Progressive carries — carries advancing ≥5m toward goal.
Tkl
Tackles won.
Int
Interceptions.

Radar de scouting del torneo

Defending

Tackles won / 90
0.34
35
Interceptions / 90
0.00
17
Ball recoveries / 90
3.62
60
Blocks / 90
0.85
22
Clearances / 90
0.06
18
Pressures / 90
10.91
17

Passing & progression

Prog. passes / 90
10.01
100
Key passes / 90
2.09
92
Prog. carries / 90
13.00
91
Pass completion %
81.9%
86

Possession

Carries / 90
45.57
95
Dribbles / 90
3.34
94

Ratios por 90 minutos a partir de datos de eventos en torneos mayores (StatsBomb), comparados con 65 forward con ≥270 minutos en las mismas fases finales. Mayor = mejor.

449
Partidos en carrera
37,840
Minutos en carrera
433
Goles
186
Asistencias
110.9
xG

Percentiles de carrera

Goals / 90
1.03
100
xG / 90
0.26
99
xAG / 90
0.16
95

frente a 355 jugadores en la posición de MF con ≥3,000 minutos de carrera en el conjunto de datos. Mayor = mejor.

Career — goals & xG by season

GoalsxG
Career goals and xG by season — 14 seasons from 2009-10 to 2022-23, 433 total goals, 110.9 total xG.Career goals and xG by season — 14 seasons from 2009-10 to 2022-23, 433 total goals, 110.9 total xG.0132538501011121314151617181920212223

Temporada a temporada

TemporadaClubLigaGolesAsistencias
2009-10BarcelonaLa Liga352,805349——
2010-11BarcelonaLa Liga332,8583119——
2011-12BarcelonaLa Liga373,2705016——
2012-13BarcelonaLa Liga322,6504611——
2013-14BarcelonaLa Liga312,5012811——
2014-15BarcelonaLa Liga383,3754318——
2015-16BarcelonaLa Liga332,7292614——
2016-17BarcelonaLa Liga342,830379——
2017-18BarcelonaLa Liga363,000341227.113.9
2018-19BarcelonaLa Liga342,713361323.814.4
2019-20BarcelonaLa Liga332,880252119.415.4
2020-21BarcelonaLa Liga353,02330922.19.5
2021-22Paris S-GLigue 1262,15361411.39.2
2022-23Paris S-GLigue 1121,0537107.25.3
Datos de FBref hasta 2022-23. Las filas marcadas como wiki son entradas de máximo goleador de Wikipedia y solo incluyen goles.
▸How to read this table— 6 columns explained
MP
Matches played in that season (start or sub counts as one).
Mins
Total minutes on the pitch — better signal for workload than MP alone.
Goals
Goals scored (penalties included).
Assists
Passes that directly led to a goal (FBref attribution).
xG
Expected goals — per-shot quality scored 0–1 by distance / angle / pressure, summed across the season.
xAG
Expected assisted goals — the xG of shots created by this player's passes, summed.
FBref data ends 2022-23; current-season rows tagged wiki come from Wikipedia top-scorer tables and carry only goals.

Rest of the Argentina squad