With an astonishing 791 goals for club and country, 41 team trophies and a record seven Ballon d’Ors to his name, Lionel Messi has already secured his status as a true footballing great.
But on Sunday, only one thing matters for the legendary Argentinian star – lifting the World Cup.
The 35-year-old will lead his team out this evening in the hope of winning the one trophy that has so far eluded him – and the biggest one of them all.
A win would fill a hole in his already exhaustive trophy cabinet and simultaneously end 36 years of hurt for Argentina, who last won the tournament in 1986 thanks to another La Albiceleste legend, Diego Maradona.
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A giant Messi shirt hangs in the centre of Rosario, the hometown of Argentina’s captain
For many, a World Cup win would also cement Messi’s status as the greatest footballer to ever grace the planet after years of debate between fans of him and Cristiano Ronaldo.
But he will first have to guide his team past defending champions France, who will be looking to make their own history at Qatar’s Lusail Stadium on Sunday, by becoming only the third team to win back-to-back World Cup trophies.
Ahead of tonight’s crunch clash, which Messi says will likely be his last World Cup appearance, here Sky News looks at the Argentinian superstar’s sensational career, in numbers.
1987 – A star is born
Born to a steel factory manager father and a mother who worked in a magnet manufacturing workshop, Messi grew up in a football-loving family in the central Argentinian city of Rosario, to the northwest of Buenos Aires.
As a child, he was constantly playing football with his older brothers Rodrigo and Matias, as well as his cousins Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi, both of whom went on to become professional footballers.
He began playing in a team aged four, before joining local club Newell’s Old Boys at the age of six, where he showed his goalscoring prowess with almost 500 goals in a youth team nicknamed “The Machine of ’87”.
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A small mural depicting Lionel Messi as a child decorates the wall at a soccer field used by the Newell’s Old Boys youth teams. Pic: AP
But it was later discovered that a young Messi had a growth hormone deficiency, a condition which threatened his future career.
His father initially used his own health insurance to cover the $1,000-a-month treatment, which involved Messi injecting hormones into his legs each night.
After the insurance coverage for the treatment ended, Messi’s father asked Newell to contribute.
However the club, owing in part to the country’s difficult economic situation at the time, declined to fully fund the treatment.
13 – The age Messi signed for Barcelona
Messi’s father looked further a field, to Spain, for a club he hoped would help fund his son’s hormone treatment, leading to trials with Barcelona.
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Messi celebrates his goal against Betis during a Spanish League match in 2006. Pic: AP
After initial hesitation from the La Liga side, the club’s first team director Charly Rexach, with no paper to hand, offered Messi’s family a contract on a napkin.
Messi would complete his growth hormone treatment at the age of 14 and then, after approval from Spain’s football federation, join Barcelona’s famed La Masia youth academy.
He became part of Barcelona’s greatest-ever youth side, scoring 36 goals in 30 games and helping guide his team to an unprecedented league and cup treble.
17 – Messi’s professional debut
After dominating in the youth leagues, Messi, a diminutive 5ft 7in forward with a low centre of balance, excellent ball control and a brilliant left foot, was given his first team debut at the age of 16 in a friendly game.
His first professional debut came at the age of 17 and three months, the youngest Barcelona player ever, in a game against Espanyol in October 2004.
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Argentina’s Lionel Messi smiles during a news conference in Buenos Aires in 2005. Pic: AP
That season he played 244 minutes in nine matches, scoring his debut goal against Albacete in May 2005.
In August of that year, he made his debut for Argentina, in a 2-1 win over Hungary.
791 – Messi’s total competitive goal tally *so far
Across 1,002 professional games for club and country, Messi has a staggering return of 791 goals.
Though there is much debate, due to a lack of official records and whether to include goals scored in friendly matches, according to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, Messi is only behind arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the all-time goalscoring charts.
But he does have 350 assists to his name – 116 more than Ronaldo – and has played 143 fewer games.
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Argentina’s Lionel Messi in a match against Angola in 2006
Messi holds a number of records for goalscoring, including being Barcelona (627) and Argentina’s (96) all-time leading goalscorer.
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He also holds the world record for the most goals (71) in a single season, beating legendary German striker Gerd Muller’s previous record of 67.
Messi has 11 World Cup goals so far in his career, across five tournaments, and is the only player in history to score a World Cup goal in his teens, his 20s and his 30s.
41 – The number of trophies Messi has won *so far
With 40 club and international trophies to his name, a World Cup win would move Messi a step close to the title of most decorated footballer in history, currently held by his former teammate, Brazilian right-back Dani Alves (42).
Across two decades with Barcelona, Messi won a staggering 10 La Liga titles, seven Champions League trophies and 15 domestic cups.
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Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta, right, and Lionel Messi lifting the 2009 Champions League trophy. Pic: AP
He also lifted the Club World Cup and the European Super Cup three times each.
For Argentina, he has won nearly every major international competition, with the World Cup the only one to so far elude him, including the Copa America, the Finalissima and an Olympic Gold Medal.
He has one Ligue 1 title with his current club, Paris Saint-Germain.
49 – The number of indiual honours Messi has won *so far
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Ronaldinho, left, Samuel Eto’o, right, and Messi, centre, with his Golden Boy Trophy in 2005
Alongside club and international honours, Messi also has a mass of indiual awards, including a record seven Ballon d’Or trophies, the last in 2021.
He also has nine La Liga Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards and the 2014 World Cup Golden Ball Award – a tournament in which his Argentina side lost in the final to Germany.
Messi also has six European Golden Shoe awards and an MVP trophy for the 2021 Copa America, in which he was instrumental in guiding Argentina to success.
Three – Messi’s children
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Lionel Messi with his wife Antonella Roccuzzo and their sons at the Ballon d’Or awards.
Off the pitch Messi has three children, Thiago, who was born in 2012, Mateo, who was born in 2015, and Ciro, who was born in 2018, with his wife Antonella Roccuzzo.
The pair have been together since they were 20.
Like Messi, Roccuzzo is from the Argentinian city of Rosario, where they married in 2017.
