Six trophies and 126 goals: Lionel Messi's international career in numbers

[p][b]208 -[/b] Appearances [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/messi-lionel/vgOOdZbd/"]Messi[/a] made for the national team, the most in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/argentina/f9OppQjp/"]Argentina[/a]'s history. Javier Mascherano is second with 147 caps.[/p][p][b]126[/b] - Goals he scored in an Argentina shirt. He is also the record-holder in this regard, with second-placed Gabriel Batistuta having scored 56.[/p][p][b]69 -[/b] Assists he provided, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/di-maria-angel/SISkkDSQ/"]Angel Di Maria[/a] is second with 32.[/p][embed guid="9d7a81c9-a782-4b99-8017-d06587e87457" url="https://x.com/adidasfootball/status/2107473946828271956" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]113[/b] - Appearances he made for the national team alongside Di Maria, his most frequent teammate.[/p][p][b]34 -[/b] World Cup matches he played. He is seven games clear of second-placed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ronaldo-cristiano/WGOY4FSt/"]Cristiano Ronaldo[/a].[/p][p][b]3,055 -[/b] Minutes he spent on the pitch at the World Cup, averaging just short of 90 minutes per match.[/p][p][b]27[/b] - World Cup matches he played as captain, another record. [/p][p][b]23[/b] - World Cup matches he won - six more than second-placed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mbappe-kylian/Wn6E2SED/"]Kylian Mbappe[/a].[/p][embed guid="c70838e3-b795-4e93-8bef-9a4b3968b9dc" url="https://x.com/julienzista/status/2107651034273231123" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]21[/b] - World Cup goals he scored, with only Mbappe ahead of him on 22. Messi also has 12 assists, the most of any player. [/p][p][b]6[/b] - World Cups he took part in - from Germany 2006 to the 2026 tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico. No one has played in more.[/p][p][b]3[/b] - World Cup finals he has played in, a tally matched only by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brazil/I9l9aqLq/"]Brazil[/a]'s Cafu.[/p][p][b]2[/b] - World Cup finals (2010 and 2026) he lost, while he became world champion once, in 2022.[/p][embed guid="08b91af8-ab2e-45a0-9d89-d77d6d1faf22" url="https://x.com/neymarjr/status/2107524899581341821" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]39[/b] - Copa America matches he played[/p][p][b]16[/b] - Player of the Match awards he won at the World Cup, plus 14 at the Copa America.[/p][p][b]6 -[/b] Trophies he won on the international stage — the FIFA U-20 World Cup (2005), the Olympics (2008), Copa America (2021 and 2024), the World Cup (2022) and the Finalissima (2022).[/p]