El Diez, who has been in the national team for over 17 years, is the player with the most appearances, the most goals and now has three well-deserved titles.
Lionel Messi He has worn the shirt of the Argentina national team almost continuously for more than 17 years. And after so much time and painful days, it was finally time for him to achieve glory: after removing the thorn of becoming champion with Albiceleste in the Copa América 2021, in Qatar 2022 he touched the sky with his hands through a Copa del World , the only title that was missing from his impressive career.
After touching the sky with his hands during his fifth World Cup, Leo decided to go for more. Although the Rosario man assured the Middle East during the run-up to the tournament that he was about to play his “last” World Cup, his coronation left the door open for a Last Dance in 2026.
For now, the Ten have already started to focus on the start of the qualifications and the Copa América 2024, enjoying the absolute idyll with the fans, who definitively placed him on the national Olympus together with Diego Armando Maradona.
And to find an explanation for such dedication, it is enough to look at the numbers of Messi, who is currently the player with the most appearances in the history of the national team and also the top scorer.
than in GOAL We bring you all the numbers of Messi in the national team.
MATCHES PLAYED
Since his debut against Hungary on August 17, 2005, and up to the friendly against Panama, the first after Qatar’s 2022 World Cup final against France, Messi played 173 games with the light blue and white (September 5, 2021 match against Brazil, abandoned after 5 minutes and then canceled by FIFA, is not counted) and he tops the list of football players who played most games in the national team after beating Javier Mascherano in the game against Bolivia on June 28, 2021 for the Copa América. During his career he took part in 5 World Cups, absolute record for an Argentine footballer, and 6 America’s Cups.
In Qatar, Leo reached 26 games played in the World Cup, passing Lothar Matthäus as the footballer with the most games in the ball’s maximum event. In addition, with the 3-0 win against Jamaica on September 27, 2022, he became the first footballer to reach 100 wins with the Argentina national team.
GOALS
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Between friendlies, qualifiers, World Cups and Copas América, El Diez has scored 99 goals in the national team and not only is he the all-time top goalscorer for the national team ahead of Gabriel Batistuta, but he has surpassed Pelé to become the player with the most goals in the history of a South American team. The first was scored against Croatia, on 1 March 2006, in a friendly 3-2 defeat in Switzerland and the most recent were the two he scored in regular time in the World Cup final against France.
ASSISTANCE
Leo handed out 53 assists throughout his career in the national team. The most recent: the one he gave to Julián Álvarez after fooling Gvardiol in the 2022 Qatar semi-final. His favorite receivers are Gonzalo Higuaín and Sergio Agüero, to whom he gave nine goals respectively.
TITLES
Getty ImagesLa Pulga had already won the Under-20 World Cup in 2005 and the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics with the Under-23, but after losing the 2007, 2015 and 2016 Copa América finals and the 2014 World Cup he finally won his first title with the Major in the Copa América 2021. A few months later, in June 2022, he won his second trophy in the Finalissima, a match that Argentina agreed to thanks to the conquest of Brazil and in which they won 3-0 defeated Italy, winner of the Eurocup.
And on December 18, 2022, after drawing 3-3 against France and beating them 4-2 on penalties, they finally won the World Cup.
Source: Goal