How Many Goals Has Messi Scored?

Lionel Messi has scored 901 goals in 1,143 career appearances. He became the second player in football history to reach 900 career goals on March 18, 2026, a milestone that confirmed what most people already knew: Messi is one of the two greatest goalscorers the sport has ever produced.

His 474 La Liga goals make him the all-time top scorer in the history of Spanish football. His 129 Champions League goals sit second only to Cristiano Ronaldo. His 115 goals for 🇦🇷 Argentina include the performances that delivered the 2022 World Cup, two Copa America titles and the status of undisputed national hero.

Below is the full statistical breakdown of every goal Messi has scored, organized by club, competition, goal type and record. Every number has been verified against Transfermarkt, UEFA official records and ESPN tracking data.

⚽ Goals by Club

Club	Seasons	Goals	Apps	Ratio
FC Barcelona	2004–2021	672	778	0.86
Paris Saint-Germain	2021–2023	32	75	0.43
Inter Miami	2023–present	82	94	0.87
⚽ Club Total		786	947	0.83
Argentina	2005–present	115	196	0.59
🏆 Career Total		901	1,143	0.79

📊 Goals by League

Competition	Goals	Apps	Goals/Game
🇪🇸 La Liga	474	520	0.91
🇫🇷 Ligue 1	21	55	0.38
🇺🇸 MLS	55+	70+	0.78
🏆 Champions League	129	163	0.79
🏆 Copa del Rey	56	77	0.73
International	115	196	0.59

FC Barcelona: The Greatest Club Career in History

672 goals in 778 games across 17 seasons. No player has scored more for a single European club than Messi did at Barcelona. He arrived at La Masia as a 13-year-old from Rosario, made his first-team debut at 17, and spent the next decade and a half rewriting every record in the club's 120-year history.

He scored 50 La Liga goals in the 2011-12 season, a record that still stands. He hit 73 goals across all competitions that same year. He won 10 La Liga titles, 7 Copa del Rey trophies and 4 Champions League titles, contributing decisively in every single one of those campaigns.

When Barcelona could no longer afford his wages in August 2021, the press conference where he announced his departure through tears became one of the most-watched sporting moments of the decade. The club had lost the greatest player who will ever wear their shirt.

🎯 Goal Types and Shooting Profile

🧠 Playmaking: Goals and Assists Combined

What separates Messi from virtually every prolific scorer in history is his output as a creator. With 407 career assists alongside his 901 goals, Messi has accumulated over 1,300 goal contributions. No other player in football history has combined elite scoring with elite playmaking to this degree.

His 407 assists are the most by any player in the recorded history of the sport. He does not just score goals. He creates them for everyone around him. It is this duality that makes the statistical case for Messi so compelling: he is simultaneously the best scorer and the best passer of his generation.

🔥 Hat-tricks: 60 Career Trebles

Messi has scored 60 hat-tricks across his career, with 50 at club level and 10 for Argentina. His most iconic treble came at the Santiago Bernabeu in March 2014, when he put three past Real Madrid to become the all-time top scorer in El Clasico history. Scoring a hat-trick against your biggest rivals in their own stadium is about as dominant as football gets.

🏆 Champions League: 129 Goals

Messi has scored 129 goals in 163 Champions League appearances, placing him second on the all-time list. He won the competition's top scorer award six times and scored in two finals (2009 and 2011). His 73 Champions League goals at Camp Nou made it the most intimidating ground in European football for visiting sides during his peak years.

Argentina and the 2022 World Cup

For over a decade, the one thing missing from Messi's career was a major international trophy. He lost the 2014 World Cup final, the 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals, and briefly retired from international football in frustration. What followed was the greatest redemption arc in football history.

He won the 2021 Copa America, breaking a 28-year trophy drought for Argentina. He then captained his country to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, scoring 7 goals including two in the final against France, a match widely considered the greatest World Cup final ever played. He added a second Copa America in 2024, completing a set of international honours that had eluded him for so long.

🏅 Individual Awards

🏆 Trophy Cabinet

📈 91 Goals in 2012: The Calendar Year Record

In 2012, Messi scored 91 goals in a single calendar year, smashing Gerd Muller's 1972 record of 85. The total included 79 for Barcelona and 12 for Argentina. To put this in perspective: 91 goals in 365 days means Messi scored a goal every 4 days, without interruption, for an entire year. Professional athletes in other sports would consider 91 goals a respectable career total. Messi did it in twelve months.

That record has stood for over a decade and shows no sign of being threatened. It may be the single most untouchable individual record in all of team sports.