Lionel Messi consistently approaches new records or achievements, and as 2026 begins, he stands on the cusp of a significant new benchmark in his illustrious journey: his 900th career goal.
The player, who has received the Ballon d’Or eight times, has accumulated 896 goals in his professional career representing Argentina, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, and his current team, Inter Miami. This tally was reached after his last game of 2025, when Miami secured the MLS Cup title against the Vancouver Whitecaps on December 5.
The MLS season for 2026 will not commence until February 21, and Argentina’s national team will not participate in another match until their Finalissima encounter with Spain in Doha on March 27. Consequently, a brief delay is anticipated before Messi can net the four goals required to reach his 900th, although this accomplishment is expected relatively quickly once the 38-year-old returns to active play.
Currently, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi’s long-standing competitor, stands as the sole active footballer to surpass 900 professional career goals, a feat he accomplished in September 2024. Considering that Robert Lewandowski, with 685 goals, holds the next highest tally among active players, it appears that a considerable period may pass before any other individual joins these two monumental figures of contemporary soccer in the 900-goal echelon.
Messi’s remarkable journey of scoring goals commenced in May 2005, when the young prodigy entered Barcelona’s league fixture against Albacete for the concluding two minutes, ultimately sealing a 2-0 win by scoring his inaugural professional goal.
While significant anticipation surrounded Messi throughout his formative years, the extraordinary degree of accomplishment that materialized after his initial goal at Camp Nou was unforeseen. Nevertheless, here we are, two decades subsequent, with Messi continuing to find the net with such regularity that the full extent of his future potential remains unknown.
Considerable attention has deservedly focused on Ronaldo’s pursuit of an unchallenged career total of 1,000 goals, with the 40-year-old currently fewer than 50 scores away from that figure. However, as Messi approaches 900, might he similarly aspire to reach that thousand-goal mark? And, given that he is nearly two and a half years Ronaldo’s junior, is it possible he could conclude his career with a higher goal count than the celebrated Portuguese player?
Messi’s Scoring Breakdown by Club and Country
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of Messi’s goals originated from the club where he spent the bulk of his professional life and experienced his most prolific period: Barcelona. The diminutive forward registered 672 goals in 778 appearances for the Catalan powerhouse over 17 campaigns, constituting three-quarters of his total career goals.
Subsequently, Messi netted 32 times across 75 matches during his two-season tenure with Paris Saint-Germain, prior to accumulating an additional 77 goals in 88 appearances thus far for Inter Miami.
In terms of international play, Messi holds an ongoing record of 115 goals from 196 outings for Argentina. Among these, none carried greater weight than the pair of goals he secured (along with a successful penalty in the tie-breaker) during the 2022 FIFA World Cup final triumph against France.
Barcelona: 672 goals in 778 games
Paris Saint-Germain: 32 goals in 75 games
Inter Miami: 77 goals in 88 games
Argentina: 115 goals in 196 games
Total: 896 goals in 1,137 games
Messi’s Seasonal Goal Tallies
At 17 years old, Messi made his initial appearance for Barcelona’s main squad during the 2004-05 season, under manager Frank Rijkaard, managing only a single goal in nine total matches. This marked his very first professional career goal, assisted by Ronaldinho, during the game against Albacete in May 2005.
His first senior international goal for Argentina came in March 2006, during a friendly loss to Croatia. Combining his club and national team efforts, Messi achieved double-digit scoring in his second professional year (10 goals in 2005-06) and has maintained this impressive consistency, reaching at least ten goals in every one of the 20 seasons that followed in his career.
Messi’s most productive individual season occurred in 2011-12, a period during which he accumulated an astonishing 82 goals across club and international competitions. This same season saw Messi score his 234th goal in 314 appearances for Barcelona, thus becoming the club’s all-time leading goal scorer at just 24 years old, taking over the distinction from César Rodriguez, a prominent player from the 1940s and ’50s. This pivotal goal was the second in a hat trick Messi achieved during a 5-3 victory against Granada in March 2012.
It wasn’t until November of the 2014-15 season that Messi claimed the title of LaLiga’s all-time leading scorer. This happened with yet another hat trick, this time against Sevilla, bringing his total to 253 goals in 289 Spanish league matches. He surpassed the record held by fellow Barça legend Telmo Zarra, whose personal best of 251 LaLiga goals had remained unbroken since 1955. Messi finished that particular season with a comprehensive total of 66 goals.
Highlighting his astonishing scoring regularity, throughout his 22 years as a professional footballer, Messi has exceeded 80 goals in a single season once, 60 goals three times, 50 goals eight times, and 40 goals on 14 different occasions. During his most dominant period, he also consistently scored a minimum of 30 goals for both his club and national team for 13 consecutive seasons, from 2008-09 to 2020-21, a span that concluded with his departure from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.
After his poignant departure, Messi’s goal output saw a reduction in Paris, where his inaugural season (2021-22) yielded a comparatively modest 22 goals. Nevertheless, he rebounded to score 37 goals in his subsequent campaign (2022-23). Although his time in France was relatively brief, he successfully secured two Ligue 1 championships and the Trophée des Champions, in addition to surpassing Ronaldo’s total of 701 goals to become the leading career scorer in European club football, achieving this with a goal against Nice in April 2023.
Messi’s Extensive Collection of Records and Achievements
Messi exhibits persistent determination in his quest for career achievements. He ascended to become Barcelona’s leading all-time scorer during the 2011-12 season, a mere eight campaigns into his professional tenure, by rapidly netting 234 goals in his initial 314 matches for the team. Subsequently, he swiftly claimed the LaLiga record upon scoring his 253rd goal in Spanish league contests.
It is important to acknowledge his world record for the highest number of goals scored within a single calendar year, an impressive total of 91 goals achieved in 69 games during 2012. Messi contributed 79 goals for Barcelona and 12 for Argentina, thereby exceeding the prior annual benchmark of 85 goals, which had been set by Bayern Munich icon Gerd Müller back in 1972.
The 500th goal of Messi’s combined club and international career occurred in April 2016, during an unexpected 2-1 home loss for Barcelona to Valencia. The attacker accomplished this in his 632nd match, having accumulated 450 goals in 525 appearances for Barça and 50 goals in 107 international appearances for Argentina up to that point.
Furthermore, he holds the distinction of being the quickest player documented to net 100 goals in the Champions League, achieving this in merely 123 matches. This pivotal goal was scored against Chelsea in March 2018, simultaneously establishing him as the youngest competitor to reach a century in the tournament at 30 years and 263 days old.
During the very same Champions League quarterfinal second leg, Messi additionally secured the fastest goal of his entire career, finding the net for his 99th UCL goal with only 128 seconds having elapsed on the clock at Camp Nou.
Despite advancing in age towards his forties, Messi continues to set new benchmarks in Major League Soccer. Having steered Inter Miami to their inaugural trophy, the 2023 Leagues Cup, he subsequently registered 23 goals in 25 matches during 2024, becoming Inter Miami’s all-time leading scorer and propelling the team to secure the Supporters’ Shield.
In the 2025 season, Messi intensified his performance once more, achieving 29 goals in 28 regular-season appearances, ultimately securing the MLS Golden Boot. He also established himself as the quickest player to reach 50 goals in MLS history, needing just 53 matches to surpass the prior record jointly held by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Josef Martínez (54 games). Overall, Messi contributed 43 goals in 49 games for Inter Miami throughout 2025.
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How Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi could face off in WC quarterfinals
Take a look at the potential fixtures of the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals including Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal facing Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
Potential Timeline for Messi to Reach 1,000 Goals
Although he still needs over a hundred more goals to achieve the 1,000-goal landmark, it appears highly probable that Messi will eventually attain this feat.
At 38 years of age, he remains under contract with Inter Miami for another three years, following an extension signed in October 2025, which is set to expire at the end of the 2028 MLS season, by which time Messi will be 41.
Since his transfer to MLS in July 2023, Messi has maintained an average of 36 goals per season across both club and international appearances (77 for Miami, 12 for Argentina). Nevertheless, due to unconfirmed speculation regarding his continued participation with Argentina—as he declined to verify his involvement in the 2026 World Cup during a recent ESPN interview—this scoring rate would foreseeably decrease should he cease playing international matches.
Even so, if he maintains an average of 36 goals per season for Inter Miami past next summer’s World Cup, Messi would be positioned to net his 1,000th career goal sometime near the culmination of the 2028 season, which marks the final year of his existing agreement.
Naturally, this represents a highly simplified computation that omits variables such as changes in performance or physical condition. However, we utilized an identical approach to project if and when Ronaldo would achieve his 1,000th career goal, and our estimations regarding his advancement toward that objective have been reasonably accurate to date.
Could Messi Conclude His Career with a Higher Goal Tally Than Ronaldo?
Ronaldo, whose present career goal count stands at 957 across 1,298 matches for club and national teams, will celebrate his 41st birthday on February 5.
Messi, having scored 896 goals in 1,137 senior-level appearances, will turn 39 on June 24.
Should Ronaldo make a significant announcement of retirement on January 1, 2026, and Messi continue playing for both club and country for an additional two seasons, reaching the age of 40, while consistently sustaining his average of 36 goals per season since his relocation to the United States, then Messi could conceivably exceed his rival’s total of 957 goals by mid-2027.
Under such circumstances, Messi’s career could potentially conclude with an aggregate of 968 goals. This, once more, is an approximate figure, but it illustrates how the advantage of time is strongly with Messi, being the younger of the two iconic competitors.
There is no doubt that both athletes have unequivocally characterized their playing era, jointly securing the Ballon d’Or on 13 occasions, ranging from Ronaldo’s initial win in 2008 to Messi’s eighth in 2023. Yet, even currently, both continue to bolster their individual arguments for being recognized as the sport’s all-time greatest.
